Deciphering the Heart
by AwkwardBlackCat
Summary: Does a hollow have a heart? Such a ridiculous notion. Centuries of nothing but death, war, and solitude couldn't possibly be erased by a concept so rooted in humanity. Emotions are a liability, an exploitable weakness. They lead only to death. Two hollows struggle to find the meaning of a heart before the answer is lost in death forever. Ulquiorra X OC. Rated M for later chapters.
1. Chapter 1- Prologue

Chapter 1- Prologue

The crumbled white-stone palace surrounded her, unchanged over the past few months since the end of the Winter War. Her back rested against a partially broken wall where she had apparently fallen asleep. As she stood, shattered bits of stone fell to the floor with soft ticks that echoed in the emptied ruins of Las Noches.

This was the worst place to wake up. The grogginess from overexertion following that battle yesterday muddled her mind, her thoughts free to go where they shouldn't. The confusion over what the weight in her chest only worsened now that she had returned to the immense, disintegrating palace of white. She had been avoiding returning here.

Even with the months that had passed, the moment she found herself near Las Noches, her breath would hitch before her head turned towards the fallen towers that had once marked the center of the palace, that now marked the final battle between the forth Espada and the soul reaper. While she was inside what remained of the structure, her head still turned to face that direction.

She sighed, kicking a rock so it flew through the room into the opposite wall. Why was she still so upset? She was a _hollow_. She should not be _feeling_ anything in regards to _anyone,_ yet here she was, fists clenched as she thought of him. It was ridiculous how much she missed his stupid blank expression, the cold edge to his voice, or even the distance in his green eyes.

It made no sense why she was so angry and it only made her that much more frustrated. Hollows died. That was one undeniable fact in Hueco Mundo. While the endless night in the colorless desert never changed, hollows did. The weak were killed, the strong lived on and evolved. She had lived under this rule for her entire existence as a hollow. She had at one point accepted it as law, but the moment it had to be applied to him she refused to believe that he was weak and meant to die. No, by that logic, she should be dead, not him. She was the weak one; an arrancar that had only figured out how to use her resserección yesterday. If anyone should have died it should have been her.

She raised her hand, palm glowing as a cero fired to blast a hole through the wall to form a direct path outside. As she walked through the newly created hall, her thoughts turned again. That was wrong as well. The one that deserved to die was the soul reaper; not Ulquiorra or her. The soul reaper had succumbed to the strange hollow powers he held. He was too weak to control his own abilities. Too weak to kill a powerful Espada alone.

Her footsteps abruptly stopped despite not yet arriving outside. Would that resolve the anger she felt? It was a suicidal endeavor considering the soul reaper managed to kill Ulquiorra, so killing her would be child's play. Right? That was the logical conclusion, her being the fracción to the Espada that had been defeated. There was no way to win, but why was the idea so tempting? Did she really wish to seek revenge for him?

Yes. Yes she did.

Before she could stop her hand from moving, it cut open the space in front of her to form a dark tear. Her feet carried her into the void of the Garganta instinctually. On the other side the sky was brilliant blue, sunshine nearly blinding the hollow so used to eternal night. A city stretched out below her, the humans but insects as they scurried across their paved walkways. Karakura. That was the name of the place below her. A town once fated to be destroyed, saved only in the deaths of the Espadas and the defector soul reapers.

It took only seconds for her to pick out a specific, maddening spiritual pressure. No matter how weak it felt now, she recognized her target. That orange haired soul reaper would die for what he did. In a flash she reached the general area, her eyes scanning the paths around the park for the human she wanted. That hair of his didn't let him hide for long.

Before he had the chance to turn his head at the sudden presence rushing for him, a foot connected with his jaw, sending him flying. As he skidded across the ground she smashed apart the pavement where she landed.

"What the-" he began, cutting himself off as he looked to his half-masked attacker. "An arrancar?" He stood up, ignoring the scrapes and bruises he'd received in the first blow. "What do you want? The war's over. Go back to Hueco Mundo before I-"

"Shut up," she hissed before vanishing from his sight using sonido. His sluggish human body could not block the kick, this time smashing into his ribs to send him flying. "I'm going to kill you!" He rose to his feet again, coughing, but still no sign of his sword, enraging her more- if that was possible. "Turn into a soul reaper already so I can kill you!"

She stepped forward, icy colored eyes narrowed as she glared at him, waiting. Her teeth ground together, a growl turning to a scream as she aimed a fist for his face. Her hand connected with an orange wall nearly invisible to the eye.

"Orihime!" the soul reaper called out automatically.

"Don't worry Ichigo," the familiar voice chimed reassuringly. The orange haired woman ran past, the hollow dropping her hand back to her side as she watched the human woman. When Orihime stood beside Ichigo, her lips pressed together and her eyes widened with surprise. "Aracelis? Why are you attacking Ichigo?"

"Move. I'm not here to kill you." Her voice was empty. She forgot that Orihime had been the one the soul reaper went to Hueco Mundo to save. A little detail like that had been lost in the turmoil her mind had been the last few months. "If you don't move, I'll kill you too!" she snarled, seeing that Orihime remained steadfast in her place at Ichigo's side.

"Aracelis, please, listen to me!" Orihime stepped forward to stand in front of Ichigo, her shield still in place. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because he deserves it!" she screeched, pointing a finger to the soul reaper behind the human woman. Her teeth gnashed together as she looked at the orange-haired pair, still unable to explain why she needed to do this to herself, let alone a human. It was completely irrational.

"Arace-" her voice died away as her gray eyes widened with fear.

Aracelis remained silent as she brought her hand up, blue light glowing as a cero gathered in her palm. It would be enough to break through Orihime's barrier. The cero would end these _feelings_ once and for all. Then she could act like a damned hollow should. The light became blinding, the energy hissing as it fired.

Blue energy cut through the ground before being shot through the air, diverted at the last moment. Someone gripped her wrist, wrenching it behind her back to prevent her from firing another cero. Aracelis's eyes went wide, pupils constricting, time seeming to stop. The way the fingers dug into her skin with enough force to cause discomfort but not injury. The pressure a warning before further action was taken. The feeling was so painfully familiar it made her blood go cold.

Slowly she turned her head to the side, her entire body shaking with both anticipation and terror. Her breath caught, her mouth trying to form words but failing as her lips quivered pathetically. Her brain shut down as she stared at him in awe and confusion and relief and too many unrecognizable emotions she could not hope to place. The stark white skin, dark black hair, and cold green eyes were unmistakable even with the missing remnants of his mask and the two tear-like markings that had once adorned his face.

How? How was he alive? She'd watched him turn to dust, felt as his presence faded away, but… He was standing right there, his tight grasp on her wrist reassuring that this wasn't some delusion created through her rage. He was somehow alive. Alive and in front of her protecting the soul reaper that had killed him. Nothing made sense as Aracelis's brain seemed to implode from sudden overload. She could only stare at him, body frozen in place.

"Hide your spiritual pressure," his calm, empty voice ordered.

Her reaction was immediate and unconscious as she did as commanded. He released her wrist, which she slowly lowered back to her side, gaze still fixed on the human-looking Ulquiorra in front of her. Some of her brain-function recovered, and now that shock replaced rage, she could sense his spiritual pressure- even if it was seemingly weak and well restrained. It was still unmistakably him.

"H-how?" she stuttered, mouth still refusing to form a complete thought. Even without the one-word question, it was obvious by her shaking body and wide eyes what she wanted to know.

"I was able to use my power to revive him," Orihime's voice explained, not able to draw Aracelis's attention away from Ulquiorra. "Although, I wasn't able to heal him fully, so he's still recovering," she added quietly, self-doubt in her ability present.

"Orihime spent months on reviving him," Ichigo said, reassuring Orihime that she had done the best she could, but also sounding slightly irked by the fact she _had_ revived the Espada.

"Why," Aracelis began, her voice shaky and quiet. "Why didn't..." The unaskable question was directed at Ulquiorra. She just wanted to know why he didn't return to Hueco Mundo, but asking something so obviously desperate and needy… She couldn't show that much weakness. Her incoherent babbling was bad enough.

"Ulquiorra's not healed enough to go back to Hueco Mundo." Ichigo's guess at her question was spot on. It sounded like he'd have forced Ulquiorra to leave if he could fend for himself. "If he did, any arrancars left over from the war could probably kill him."

"I am not in that poor of condition." Ulquiorra, although as stone-faced as always, radiated an aura that screamed Ichigo hit a nerve. Jabs about weakness were not something a hollow took lightly; Aracelis was almost angry on Ulquiorra's behalf.

Orihime laughed awkwardly, trying to break the tension between the two males. Aracelis finally tore her eyes away from the dark-haired hollow to look to the two humans still standing behind her. Orihime had stepped closer after bringing down her shield, while Ichigo remained a distance away, bruised jaw still tense from the presence of the two hollows- one completely unfamiliar to him.

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra stated, forcing her attention back to him with the rarity of him using her name. "Return to Hueco Mundo."

Silence. Deafening silence with an ever-building tension. Aracelis's lips parted, words again refusing to flow out, but this time it was far from shock. How dare he tell her to just go back after finding out he was alive! Unbelievable. No, actually, it was just like him. With her outburst of energy earlier it was a miracle an army of soul reapers didn't already show up to finish off an arrancar. She was putting herself, and even him, in his recovering state, in danger by remaining in the human world. The most logical action would be for her to leave. Yet _she_ was never the rational one.

Aracelis stepped forward, narrowing the distance between her and Ulquiorra to mere inches instead of a few feet. She straightened her back to make her minor half-inch height difference less noticeable as she prepared to scream her pent-up frustrations at his porcelain face.

"A-ah," Orihime stuttered as she quickly moved to stand to the side- almost between- the two hollows. Sweat dropped off her forehead as she tried to find something to distract the female hollow before she picked a fight with Ulquiorra- even if she knew they wouldn't kill each other, fighting wasn't something they needed to be doing right now. "W-wait, Aracelis, I have an idea!" Orihime nearly bounced up and down with excitement. "We could get you a gigai and you could stay here!"

"What?" Aracelis and Ichigo asked in unison. Aracelis had no idea what the human woman was talking about, but Ichigo… Ichigo knew _exactly_ what that meant. One hollow was already too much; not to mention he hadn't met this Aracelis before. The kick to face wasn't exactly a good first impression.

"It's sort of like a fake body. Soul reapers use them so they can be seen by normal people. It works for hollows too!" She gestured to Ulquiorra, that being the explanation for why he appeared human. "They're also really great at hiding spiritual pressure, so you won't be noticed by the Soul Society or other hollows. I'm sure Mr. Urahara would make one for you!"

"Wait, Orihime! Are you serious about this?" Ichigo interrupted, stepping forward to stand closer to the odd group. "Do you really trust her? She was trying to kill me five minutes ago!"

"Aracelis is…" Orhime trailed off, her grey eyes shifting between Ichigo and Aracelis. "I don't think she'll cause any problems. When I was in Hueco Mundo, she would come talk with me, and…" She shook her head to forget about the time she played captive and the whole winter war. "Aracelis, do you promise not to attack Ichigo again?"

"I…" Aracelis avoided their stares by glancing off to the side. With Ulquiorra alive, she really didn't need to kill the soul reaper for revenge's sake. Without that, she had no reason to kill _any_ human or soul reaper unless they came after her. "I probably won't if he doesn't piss me off," she answered finally.

"What do you mean probably!?" Ichigo tried to interject, but he was completely ignored as Orihime took hold of the conversation.

"So," she began with barely hidden excitement leaking into her voice, "what do you think about staying here?"

"I…ah…" Aracelis risked a quick look at Ulquiorra. His face was as indifferent as always, no obvious reaction to Orihime's ridiculous offer. That meant he either didn't care or… No, he just didn't care. There was no way he actually wanted her there. For her to even think that must mean her brain wasn't quite over the shock of finding out he was alive.

Wait, why was she even considering staying? She should have spat out 'no' within the first second of being asked. If she was in this gigai thing she'd be making a commitment to stay for more than a few hours at the time. The human world may be interesting to watch, but actually living there seemed horrifyingly boring. She could just travel between the human world and Hueco Mundo to visit Ulquiorra.

But, if she did that, she could catch unwanted attention. Karakura had been the center of a major battle. If the soul reapers weren't monitoring it still, they were more foolish than she thought. Opening a Garganta would draw them right to her and, by default, Ulquiorra. There would be no traveling back and forth, especially not often. With her actions today the Soul Society may very well be on edge already. And that lead back to Ulquiorra telling her to leave, because he was _always_ right in the end.

Yet something in her wanted to stay so badly that nothing else seemed to matter.

"Aracelis?" Orihime's voice pulled the hollow out of her thoughts.

Aracelis sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, returning her gaze to the shattered pavement. Her apparent _feelings_ were too muddled to make a proper decision right now. It didn't help that Ulquiorra was standing so close still. Aracelis knew he was watching her, analyzing each change of emotion that just had to be etched across her face right now. "I need to think about this," she muttered.

Before any more was said, Aracelis jumped into the air, the sudden movement sending Orihime stumbling back a few steps, her balance beginning to falter. While Ichigo helped steady her by bracing her shoulders, Ulquiorra glanced up at the retreating form of his former subordinate. His eyes narrowed slightly, wondering why she didn't stay. There was no reason for her to go back to 'think about this' when she would inevitably be back.

Once her feet touched the white sands of Hueco Mundo, a cero gouged out the ground to create a dust storm. As she ground her teeth, she charged another blast to send into the sand. Frustration was the only emotion she seemed able to identify, and that was mainly focused on herself. She should have said no and gone about being a hollow, returning to killing the remaining arrancars she found annoying. But, no, she wanted to think about it. Scratch that. All she could think about was Ulquiorra. How did she ever become so attached to him that she would even consider an extended stay in the world of the living _as a human_?

She growled as she closed her hand, extinguishing the fifth cero she was about to release as part of her destruction therapy. This was her own fault. Her attachment to him… She only had herself to blame for that.

Her knees gave away so she could fall into a sitting position, her arms crossed over her chest and eyes narrowed.

Still… How did this happen? How did a hollow like her end up in a mess of emotions that centered around another?

The past was a good place to start looking for that answer.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

Hello and thank you for reading!

While this is not my first story, it is my first for Bleach. I hope everyone enjoyed this little look into what is actually more of the middle of the story. I figured I needed to get some Ulquiorra in the first chapter because he is the cannon character. Aracelis is an unknown right know so I didn't want to start out with just her past.


	2. Chapter 2- Evolution

_What exactly is luck? Is it randomly determined by the strings of fate, or is determined by karma? I'll tell you now, when you don't have any luck at all it doesn't matter if its fate or karma or whatever. It's hell. Little things going wrong at every turn are one thing, but, I mean, when your life is actually_ _ **ended**_ _by the lack of luck you know-_ _ **you just know**_ _\- that you've been screwed over. Seriously, dying is the worst thing that can arguably happen to a human; so when death finds you for no reason other than luck…_

 _Ah, well, you don't care about that luck nonsense anyway. I'll save you the pain of listening to me bemoan my pathetic human life and just tell some fragments of memories that pretty much explain just how awful my luck was. Carts losing control, swerving and crashing into a sad, terrified little human on several occasions- every time coming just short of killing her. Falls down stairs that resulted in broken bones- vertebra included. Slipping into an icy river, nearly drowning and then freezing- the resulting pneumonia lasting for months. Anything and everything that could go wrong would, but, oh, how the last one_ _ **really**_ _showed up the rest of the 'accidents.'_

 _I guess that is where this story actually begins. That stormy day as the rain fell relentlessly, sheer winds sending the drops sideways and catching umbrellas, dark skies thick with cloud cover, lightning flashing and thunder cracking, showing the storm had no intention of fading away peacefully. Yeah… it all turned around after that... Though I don't know if you'd say it was really for the better._

She ran, holding an arm above her eyes in a sad attempt to block the rain as it pelted her face. People stared as she stumbled past them, her clothes soaked through, one shoe long lost, and a look of frustration as an umbrella breezed teasingly above the ground, upturned and wind-wrecked, a few feet in front of her.

A horse reared as it tried to avoid smashing into the reckless young woman chasing after a tattered umbrella that still fluttered in the wind mockingly. She only offered a quick, one word apology to the cart's owner, unfazed by something that nearly happened daily to her, before continuing on, wishing the stupid umbrella would just get caught on something so she could grab it, go home, and be out of the cold rainstorm.

Above, thunder boomed, people looking skyward as they considered how much further they had to walk or if they should take shelter in a nearby building until the fierce lightning and rain calmed. She stubbornly followed the umbrella as it skidded down the street, the sounds of the storm barely registering as her heart pounded in her ears from the extended run she had been forcibly taken on.

"Finally!" She raced forward, the umbrella caught on the pole of a lamppost. She reached out, everything slowing as a flash blinded her as she leaned forward, fingers grazing the wooden handle of the umbrella. Her heart stopped as a jolt shot through her, pain flaring as skin burned and nerves fired uncontrollably. She slammed into the slick cobblestone, head throbbing, body unable to move.

She stared at the stone-gray ground blankly, breathing shallow and difficult, and brain straining to figure out what had happened. People gathered around, holding back gasps of horror and panic as they stared on at the one in a million chance event happening before them. Her fingers twitched beside her head, just in the corner of her vision, as she tried to move, the feeling not registering. People began shouting to call for help, but it was too late.

Because, being the one in a million wasn't unlucky enough. Because lightning shouldn't strike the same place twice. Another bolt struck to bring its final judgement, a lifeless body left lying burnt and broken on the ground, the umbrella caught in the wind and blowing away, leaving behind the glassy eyes of a person taken by death.

People gathered around, unaware of the girl staring down her own corpse, a chain dangling limply from her chest where a heart had formally beat. She watched, unable to move, as a doctor appeared to try and revive her, each second taking away hope that this new state of being wasn't permanent. Eventually they pronounced her dead, the crowd having already lost interest and moving on to continue with their mundane lives while the spirit stared at the black scorch beneath where her body had formerly been.

When the first wave of paralyzing shock and confusion faded, she unfroze, running to the first person she saw. As she reached out, her hand passed through the man's shoulder before he walked through her. No matter how obvious the answer was, she ran around the street, chain attached to her chest creaking solemnly with every movement. No one answered. No one noticed. No one cared.

The desperation, too, eventually faded, leaving a sense of calm infected with depression. She stood off to the side of the lamppost that marked the end of her existence. The now drizzling rain passed through her incorporeal form. She stared blankly forward, tears that had formally streaked down her face drying.

She held a hand in front of her, her lips trembling. "I'm…" Her teeth grazed her lips as she tried to bite back the emotion, but nothing would stop it. "I'm dead!" she shouted, throwing her hands into the air, delirious laughter ringing out. "I'm dead! Dead! Dead! A ghost!" Her legs shook and she clutched her sides as she tried to stifle the mad laughter at the realization that her bad luck had finally killed her. It'd taken seventeen years, but the world finally found a way to kill her! Lightning! Two bolts and her miserable existence ended!

"I'm actually dead," she cackled, letting herself drop to the ground to sit, arms wrapped around her legs. The world became eerily quiet as the muffled laughter died away, leaving only the occasion sniffle. After a fresh coating of tears coated her face, she let herself fall backwards to lay in the street, eyes focused on the still gray sky. "Now what?"

Was she supposed to wait for her soul to move on or something? Was she stuck here, forever tied to the place she died? It's not like the living understood the afterlife, and that'd been her only a few… She frowned, trying to think just how long ago that'd been. Minutes? Hours? Did it matter? She was dead, what was time to her? But if all she had to look forward to were her own hysterics in the street for the next eternity… It'd all be awfully boring.

"Well, I guess I'll have to see what I can do as ghost." She pushed herself off of her back and from a sitting position to her feet. After she absentmindedly patted her clothes to knock off the grit, more habit than anything, the jingling chain on her chest caught her attention. "What _is_ this thing?" She gingerly took the end of the chain in her fingers, watching as the reflections across the silver chain shifted with every movement. Then she wrapped a hand around it firmly, yanking at it.

She found herself dropping her hand, a scream bursting from her mouth as her legs gave out, falling to kneel on the stone covered ground. With heavy breathes she shakily stood back up, eyes never leaving the mysterious chain. Pain still flared, all centered around the metal lodged in her chest where her heart had once rested.

She didn't like it; this chain dangling from her chest, a constant reminder of her current state. A reminder that she was dead, her empty shell of a body being treated with respect while her spirit wandered the street unnoticed. How did she even feel pain considering she was dead? The reaction of pulling on the chain made no sense; what could possibly happen that it needed to hurt her if she attempted to remove it? If it were some sort of metaphor about being bound to the earth, she'd tear it out right now and deal with whatever consequences followed, but she'd leave it be. For now, anyway.

All the mischievous ghosts from books and legends filled her mind, drawing on her curiosity of what she could do to influence the world around her. More importantly, she wanted to see if she could screw with those yet living. The idea of being a naughty poltergeist was infinitely more entertaining than walking around the already fading scorch mark on the pavement, crying at her fate.

As the days dragged by the spirit's pranks grew crueler and crueler. What started as causing candles to flicker and burn out and the slamming of doors, became the sudden brick falling from overhead and the shattering of glass onto the unsuspecting. With every worsening offense and cackle of the wandering spirit, the chain shortened, then loosened from its resting place to leave an ever growing gap that fascinated the spirit. Her offences growing more depraved if only to see if the chain would fall from her chest.

It ended in a flash of light and screams of agony as the chain became unattached. The white mask formed from the remnants of what was considered the spirit's humanity -the spirit's heart- leaving a hole all the way through her chest. Her form shifted from human to monstrous: body lengthening, skin graying, white armor-like hide forming, a sharp pronged tail growing, and the sprouting of a set of wings completing the insectoid form reminiscent of a dragonfly. A mindless hollow seeking to fill the void, a hunger for souls driving its every action, was born.

And, as all hollow, she sought out souls. Devouring. Gaining power. Evolving. Time forgotten as the hunger stole perception and intelligence, leaving raw instinct and bloodlust. Years. Decades. They passed unnoticed as the monster sought power to further evolve beyond mindlessness to regain the ability to reason.

 _When that hollow regained its mind… now that's where it gets good. That was when_ _ **I**_ _was truly born. After eating and eating, killing countless weak humans for their meager souls, I gained back just enough sanity to go after worthwhile prey. How sweet that first soul reaper had been…_

The sky tore open, the black void of the Garganta spitting out a winged hollow on its way to feed in the human world. The dragonfly zipped through the air, heading towards the nearest prime-cut of a human that possessed even an ounce of spiritual power. It was routine by now to search out the strongest spiritual pressure because anything less wasn't worth the time. Weakness begets weakness. Weak meant dead. Having just recaptured its mind, there was no way the monster would allow itself to be defeated.

The insectoid hollow hovered above the towering buildings of the human city, eyes scanning the gnats as they walked along their paved streets, ignorant of the creature seeking to devour them. As it caught sight of a miserable soul to make a meal of, the monster stretched out its clawed hands, preparing to swoop down and take the unsuspecting human in one go.

A sudden cry behind it made the hollow spin around, wings beating to send it away as the flash of a blade swung through the air. The black-clothed man landed back on the edge of the building, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed as he took in his sworn enemy he was meant to defeat.

"A soul reaper, huh?" The hollow's wings fluttered, anticipating another attack to come before it could fully assess its chances against the threat. Sure, it'd run into the blasted hollow hunters before, but it never dared stay this close for this long before. Perhaps it'd become cocky in its old age. That thought sent the hollow into a fit of wild laughter.

"You can speak," the soul reaper muttered, readjusting his hold on his sword as he bent his knees, muscles flexing to prepare to propel him forward. "What?" It vanished from his sight in a blur.

"Too slow," the hollow taunted as it reappeared behind the now falling soul reaper. He swung his sword, catching its outstretched hand. When the monster hissed and darted back, he used the side of the building to spring upwards once more, sword in both hands as he aimed for the mask.

A pronged tail slammed into his face, the force sending him plummeting into the ground below, pavement cracking and exploding, leaving humans gasping at the unseen cause of the destruction. The hollow dove down, bloodied hand driving into the soul reaper's chest, skewering him on sharpened claws. He didn't have a chance to block the gapping mouth as it snapped down on his head.

 _That wasn't the only one either. After that… that one taste… soul reapers became the main course whenever possible. Humans were no longer satisfying. But… even soul reapers became boring after a while, you see. The only ones I dared hunt were alone and the same strength or weaker than myself. The stronger I became, the less soul reapers on my level there were in the human world. They became entertainment after I found them too weak to satisfy the hunger. Not wishing to go on a suicide mission to Soul Society for better meals left me to find something else worthwhile to feast upon._

 _The solution to my predicament was eating other hollows, naturally. It started out with the regular sort before my ego bloated and confidence became arrogance. You see, fighting can be pure bliss when you're the one in control, when you can see the desperation and fear in an opponent. Regular, dumb hollows operating on instinct alone aren't fun. They just screech, turn over, and die. Sadly I wasn't ready for eating my fellow intelligent hollows, but streams of blood and utter destruction held me over. Let me tell you now, Menos Grande, while completely stupid, are a hell of a lot of fun to tear apart._

The dark forest of crystalline trees appeared deceptively quiet as the dragonfly perched on an outstretched branch, observing the area. The Menos Forest of Hueco Mundo, both a retreat and killing ground for hollows. Smaller, weaker hollows kept to the shadows, fighting amongst each other or hiding from the cannibals that threatened them. The Menos Grande wandered in packs, milling about as their huge forms stomped through the even larger forest. The occasional Adjuchas stalked their next meal, much like the dragonfly hollow was now.

When the 'thump' 'thump' 'thump' drummed loudly, breaking the silence, the dragonfly turned her head towards the noise, waiting to see the black cloaked behemoths as they meandered between trees. Several white masks became visible as they stepped out from the shadows, feet still pounding into the ground to send out noisy termors. The winged hollow rose to her feet, flexing clawed hands and beating her wings to prepare for flight.

The Menos closed the gap between themselves and their hunter, unknowingly sentencing themselves to death. The dragonfly took off, darting forward faster than the Menos could turn their clumsy bodies. The first was sliced below its mask, the dragonfly biting into its flesh to make its power her own. The others howled, now aware of the hunter amongst them. Red energy gathered at their mouths before firing bright beams that destroyed all in their paths. The dragonfly hollow weaved between beams with ease, her form made for quick maneuvering. They all fell to the hunter, their sluggish responses no match for the speed of the smaller, stronger, smarter hollow.

 _Following the Guillian feasts, I went after other Adjuchas. It was a natural step to take, seeing as how I still seemed to be gaining power. To be honest I didn't really know what goal I had in mind as I continued devouring others to increase my own power. It's easy to say that it had merely been a way to pass the time, but that's not it. I was curious, mainly. I wanted to find the point where I could evolve no further, a stage where my form quit changing from animal-like to more and more human-like._

 _For a while, I thought it possible that if my form continued to change, I would somehow revert back to that pathetic mortal state of being. Or even a soul reaper. I had no idea. It's not like there was someone that explains the hollowfication process and beyond as soon as you became one. No, you've got to figure that out for yourself._

 _Natural curiosity eventually caused me to do something completely irrational. As my form shifted, re-proportioning itself to a human appearance in size and shape, I had an idea. I decided that only two things separated me from a human: the hole through my chest and the mask on my face. Seeing as I couldn't plug the hole in my chest… Well... That left the mask._

It had been some time since the dragonfly hollow dared fly above the forest to the land of white sands above. She still avoided many of the hollows that called this place home, knowing that she was not yet a match for them despite her being something she later learned to be called a Vasto Lorde. Even if she was forced to tread carefully, the desert above the forest enamored her. The pure white sand that glistened in the light of the forever risen moon, the quiet solitude offered by the lack of other hollows, and the deceptive tranquility; she found them all fascinatingly different from the chaos of the Menos Forest and the world of the living.

She sat down on the ground, running her hand through the pale grains as she thought. Her form had changed again, her size tiny in comparison to what it had been as an Adjucha. More disturbingly the human features became so pronounced that her body looked just that: human. Ocean blue hair covered the back of her head. Some of the plating over her body fell away to reveal skin, the coloring shifting from gray to brown- although it did not lose its relative hardness when compared to the flesh of humans. If it were not for the mask and wings she would be mistaken for one of the weak creatures from a distance.

With that in mind, she raised a clawed hand to run it over the surface of the white mask, feeling each groove underneath her fingertips. When she reached the edge of the mask, she traced along it until reaching a spot near her forehead. Then she gripped it between her fingers, an idea forming.

What if she tried to pull it off? Would it kill her? She had seen other hollows' masks crack and become damaged, although it regenerated after a while. But they had been weak. If a creature such as she tore apart her own mask, what would happen? If she did not die, would she just be in constant pain until it regenerated? Or... What if it did something else? As it stood, the mask was the main feature that made her a hollow. Without it, would she become human? Something else? It's not like she had anything important to lose if her morbid experiment ended poorly. She had been growing bored as of late, prey not as interesting as it had once been with her power overwhelming to most.

The first yank caused her to grit her teeth and inhale sharply. It didn't budge. She brought her other hand up, focusing on prying the mask from the right to left. With more vigor, she pulled at the mask, screaming as she refused to stop. Everything around her seemed to fade from her sight as her focus zeroed in on the pain she was causing herself as she gripped the boney mask. The screaming would have been continuous if she didn't have to break to draw in shaky breathes. Her arms strained, fingers being cut into by the edge of the mask, blood running down her arms, and her entire body felt the pain radiating from her face.

One thundering 'crack' was all she heard as fell forward into the sand, vision blackening.

When her eyes snapped open once again, her body shot up, sand scattering as she sat. As she moved her hand she felt her fingertips brush against something smooth. Her fingers wrapped around the thin object, bringing it in front of her so she could study what surely hadn't been there before her little experiment.

"Wha… What is?" She couldn't even finish before she burst out laughing. "A sword? Really? Am I soul reaper or what?" As she regained control of herself she turned the dark blue sheath around in her hands, watching the dull reflections of the moon move across it. She grabbed the hilt, drawing the sword, letting the sheath drop to the ground.

She held the sword up, tilting it as she looked over the rather plain blade. It radiated her own spiritual pressure, oddly. She froze when she moved the blade, the shiny surface reflecting her face. The sight caused her to lean closer to the mirror-like surface, her free hand unconsciously rising to trace across the left side of her face.

Next to the remnants of her broken mask… contrasting with the stark white… Her hand trembled as she ran it down the smooth, rich brown skin. Her face… Where the mask broke off… It was completely human. What had she done when she broke off her mask? Her eyes widened, letting her see the pale blue color of her irises.

Her shaking hands dropped the sword to the ground. The sight brought her back from the feeling of panic, the emotion almost foreign after being absent for so long. She retrieved the weapon, grabbing the sheath as well before she stood up. Whatever she'd managed to do, she would deal with it. She had to or some other hollow would eat her. There was no time to be sitting in the sand, screaming at her own apparent mistake. The sword seemed a clue to what may have transpired.

The sword was returned to its sheath with a metallic click. With it grasped tightly in her hand, she bent her knees, ready to spring upward and take flight. She flung herself into the air with ease, the next part, though, did not go well. She nearly fell to the ground as gravity pulled at her, only catching herself by using her spiritual pressure.

"W-what the hell happened to my wings!?"

That single screech rang out over the empty desert of Hueco Mundo.

 **Author's Note:**

And that is a brief look into Aracelis's evolution! I posted this one with the first because obviously there was a lack of Ulquiorra in it, but that won't be the case moving forward. Writing a romance with him in character will be difficult enough with him present; ifs he's never there I would really have a problem building a relationship between the two.

As for the timeline, it covers from way into the past to the months after the Winter War when Ichigo had lost his powers (and before the Fullbring arc). Also I watched the anime more recently than I've read the manga (so if something happened differently in the manga, I will likely not remember it), but will be discounting most filler arc events. I am really trying to stick with canon as closely as I can in that regard.

Thank you all for reading!


	3. Chapter 3- A Solution to Boredom

_And I reached what I considered at the time to be the pinnacle of my evolution. With that accomplishment, the few that would challenge me fell, so weak that their power was inconsequential. Hunting became a tiring chore that held close to no interest._

 _I grew bored. Bored with being unable to challenge the few above me in strength. Bored with the weak trash that I was forced to hunt. Bored with monotony of solitude._

 _My new boredom lead me to interact with the hollows around me. When I say interact, I mean I actually tried to talk with them. Let me tell you now, there are a lot of annoying hollow. I'll admit that I killed quite a few solely because they irritated me._

 _There was only one that I truly appreciated, though I was a pest that he wasn't quite strong enough to kill. Not then, anyway. Now he could kill me with his bare hands. No. That's not the truth. He could kill me without so much as touching me. I'm getting ahead of myself, though, because when we met,_ _ **I**_ _outranked him. That brief time when he_ _ **had**_ _to tolerate me... Those were such fun times._

The giant scorpion-like hollow screeched as it slammed its tail into the ground, sending a cloud of white sand into the air as it missed the bat-winged hollow once more. He had been hunting for other Adhuchas to devour, the scorpion happening to be the one he found, but the spiritual pressure of another had interrupted. He fired a cero, blasting off the scorpion's tail, mind still focused on the stronger hollow that approached with haste. If he wasted more time on the scorpion, the other would arrive.

The scorpion, stump of a tail waving wildly as black blood spurted from it, sunk into the sand. He used another cero to blast away the sand his prey hide under, the insect screeching as it made one final attempt to kill him or at least injure him. It was too late to avoid the other hollow; it was behind him now, he could sense. When the scorpion leaped forward, mouth open wide, he grabbed the bottom of its jaw, tossing the entire monster over himself, the lower jaw detaching.

The bat hollow was quick to eat the flesh of the other hollow, not wanting his meal ruined simply because of this other hollow's arrival. As he chewed he looked over his shoulder. It became obvious why the other hollow had not attacked when his back was turned to it.

The human form wrapped in a tattered shirt that revealed the scarred right shoulder, the shattered, half-mask on the left side of her strikingly human face, and the sword slipped in the sash on her hip; she was the Vasto Lorde that had been chasing about Adjuchas to speak with them and inevitably kill them. Despite her title of Vasto Lorde, her spiritual pressure was nothing extraordinary. From what he had heard, she relied on speed rather than power, but was also quick to flee if her prey put up the slightest challenge. Her overall threat was… undeterminable.

"A bat hollow, huh?" she stated off-handedly, observing that he had a large set of wings on his back as well as a set of horns that almost gave the impression of elongated ears. "You're quite small, too." He was about the same size as her, which was odd considering Adhuchas were typically much larger than the more human-sized Vasto Lordes. Perhaps he was close to evolving. He was also… white. While other hollows had patches of colored, dark skin, his entire form was white. "We both hunt pests, then," she muttered as she compared a bat to a dragonfly, losing interest in his color. She tilted her head to the side, noting that he had yet to move, not even bothering to fully face her. His eyes, though, they were fascinating. Those green eyes glaring at her, they seemed to be analyzing her.

She used sonido, disappearing from sight. While he was unable to follow the movement, he remained clam as she appeared in front of him. Even his face remained blank, no surprise evident even in his eyes. "You have a name, Adhucha?"

Silence was his response as he stared at the woman. She was acting friendly, trying to incite conversation. It was rather odd for a hollow to try and converse, to seek out companionship. More so when the hollow devoured those they spoke with afterwards.

She sighed, shaking her head a few times. "You stand there staring at me like that any longer and I might just decide you annoy me. Do you have a name or not?" Her eyebrow raised as her foot tapped the sand in mock impatience. In truth he was already more entertaining than the last several Adhuchas considering the idiots charged right in to attack her. No conversation. No entertainment. _No purpose_. He at least offered an interesting challenge of how much it would take to goad him into an unwinnable fight.

He narrowed his eyes, responding with "Ulquiorra Cifer," in hopes she would be quiet and leave. He would rather avoid an unnecessary fight with the Vasto Lorde considering the vast differences in strength between an Adhucha such as himself and a Vasto Lorde like her. She would kill him as soon as her interest in him waned, as she had all the others.

"See! That wasn't so bad, was it Ulquiorra?" She grinned, clapping her hands together. "You're rather quiet, aren't you?" Her tone was growing more and more condescending as she continued. "Are you perhaps scared I'll eat you?" She leaned forward, eyes daring him to attack her. How long would he last before she broke his control and irritated him into a reaction, or, better, into attacking her?

"What is your name?" he ordered more than asked, considering the bluntness of the question. If she were distracted, perhaps he could escape before she grew bored.

"My… My name?" she asked, pointing to herself. "I… ah…" The strange hollow rocked back on her heels with her hands behind her back, the question catching her completely off guard. Her name? He wanted to know her name? Even if it was just to distract her… He asked something she had no answer to. "You know, you're the first one to bother asking that. Or, I guess, you're the first hollow that's not run or attacked by now." Her movements stopped as her pale blue eyes focused on his green emotionless ones. "I guess… I'll go with…" She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked to the sky, taking a few seconds to consider the question. "Aracelis... Fonseca…" She snapped her fingers, smiling. "Yeah, I like that. My name is Aracelis Fonseca, then."

More silence. The newly deemed Aracelis watched him carefully, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. He did not bother remarking about her being nameless, instead his interest in her reasoning took precedence.

"What is your purpose in speaking with me? If you intend on devouring me, why try to make pointless conversation? Your actions are… illogical."

Aracelis stared at him, mouth falling open slightly as she gaped at the hollow's remark. "You just…" she whispered fighting the smile forming across her face. "You insulted me. You, an Adhucha, dare to insult a Vasto Lorde? And to remain so calm and in control of your expression and tone!" She laughed, stepping closer to the bat hollow so he was within arm's length. "Other hollows gather together, form packs and alliances."

"Yet you have killed all the Adhuchas you have previously been in contact with. Your actions suggest the opposite of creating a pack. Even if I had interest in forming such a ridiculous alliance with you, a weaker than average Vasto Lorde, your previous actions show your true intentions." Even he, the emotionless hollow, felt his brow twitch when she smiled at his analysis of her intent. This is what she had been seeking? Someone who contradicts her despite her rank?

"You want to know _why_ I killed the others?" Her grin allowed all of her teeth to show, her icy eyes narrowing. "Because they annoyed me with how stupid they were. I wasn't looking for some simpleton to blindly follow after me because I was stronger than them; I have the Gullian for that. No, I was looking for someone smart enough to be entertaining enough to speak with for more than two seconds." When he narrowed his eyes at her bizarre answer, she knew. She knew that this hollow was the perfect one to entertain her.

"Loneliness is your sole motivation?" How he wished to believe another hollow sought a comrade, but he saw that always ended with death. He had learned that such comradery did not exist between hollows. Power was the sole, all-consuming motivation all hollows had. "How pathetic." He turned to walk away, making it a few steps before she lowly stated her response.

"No." She was in front of him again, making it known that he could not escape by flaring her spiritual pressure. "I'm not lonely. _I'm bored._ " Aracelis tilted her head to the side, giving him a crooked smile. "And you, Ulquiorra, are interesting. I will leave, but don't think that this is the last time you'll see me. No, I will track you down whenever I feel like it, and pester you until you are strong enough to either kill me or scare me off. Until then, you can't escape me."

With that implied threat, she turned her back on her new 'friend,' walking a few steps, her hair bouncing with the slight skip she now had. He did not move, nor respond to her decree. She hummed under her breath, the malicious, sharp-toothed grin reappearing on her face. In one sonido she left the other hollow behind.

 _I wasn't joking when I said he could kill me now. Back then, though, he was one of my favorite diversions to distract me from the unchanging world of Hueco Mundo. Actually, he became part of my mad little attempts at entertainment. Now those… Those are what made Ulquiorra go from ignoring me as I rambled to actively asking questions about what I meant to accomplish with my escapades into the world of the living._

 _You see, I was curious. After I stopped viewing humans as a meal, their actions became… perplexing. Always scurrying about from place to place with such unnecessary haste; gathering together, cramming themselves into buildings; their emotions… Almost everything they did was confusing, foreign. Them and their light filled world…_

 _But he didn't really care about that. No, the thing he took interest in was the fact that every time I ran into a soul reaper, I would go out of my way to cause commotion. I honestly think he just found my actions so ridiculously unnecessary that he needed to call me on my own ludicrous actions. It was always subtle, but that sarcasm was there. That attitude was there underneath the calm. He only needed a little provocation…_

 _One particular act of over-the-top havoc made him really question my sanity._

The sun burned brightly overhead, the light glaring to the eyes of the hollow as she walked through the park, weaving between humans even if they could not see her. If they could, the two she was following wouldn't be so casually strolling around, hand in hand. Aracelis found many human actions odd, but affection utterly baffled her.

The way humans that were supposedly in love acted around each other was… bizarre. The constant touching was what really got her, which was why she ended up trailing after the rather plain looking humans as they held hands and babbled about their insignificant human problems.

She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, staring at the two as they took a seat on a bench to cuddle up. Honestly, how were they comfortable _that_ close to each other? Did they trust each other that much? If she got _that_ close to another hollow they would try to kill her- if she didn't end them first. Even Ulquiorra would- no, scratch that, he was a bad example to use. Despite not displaying his irritation on his face, if she dared stand within arms-reach he would tense up and his spiritual pressure would flare with his apparent distaste. It was actually kind of funny considering how he couldn't really do anything about it, seeing as she could still kill him. Not that she really wanted to. His company kept her from complete boredom.

She laughed under her breath when she noticed that she had thrown her attention off on a tangent. The humans in front of her were her current entertainment; not him. The two had leaned even closer to each other, foreheads resting against each other's while they talked in hushed tones. It wasn't the first time she'd seen the gesture, but its reasoning still perplexed her, causing her brows to push together.

"Hey, you! Identify yourself!"

The demand only made her sigh and drop her arms to her side in exasperation. They just never learned. She looked over her shoulder, icy eyes fixed on the black and white clothes of the young soul reaper accosting her. Upon seeing her face, more specifically her broken mask, his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open.

"Do you need something?" Aracelis asked, voice flat and devoid of any amusement she had moments ago.

The soul reaper continued to stare, frozen as his mind raced to figure out what the hell was standing in front of him. She kept her spiritual pressure restrained, leaving only a trace. A trace that was definitely hollow-like in nature. The sword at her hip further confused them because it was so similar to the soul reapers' weapons of choice. Her contradicting appearance always made them question if she was just a hollow, an odd human, another soul reaper, or something unknown.

"What are you?" he finally spat out, hand reaching for the hilt of his sword in attempt to be threatening.

Aracelis rolled her eyes at the reaction, turning to face him. "A hollow, what else?" She rested a hand on her hip as she waited for the soul reaper to draw his sword and point it at her. "This is getting so tiresome. Don't you people have something better to do? Honestly, I just keep killing you guys, you think you would learn to just ignore me. I mean I'm not even-"

"Y-you're the hollow then?" His sword shook ever so slightly as he threw the accusation out. "Th-the ones that's been killing soul reapers around here?" He never looked away as he reached his free hand up to some sort of device near his ear. "I found the hollow that killed MInami and the others. Yes, the one with the torn mask. I am requesting back up immediately."

"You're calling more here?" Aracelis's smile returned, her reply giddy. She'd made a name for herself! The soul reapers had finally had enough of her antics that they would send for help. Oh, this was so much better than just one puny soul reaper trying to kill her and failing miserably! She was about to ask when the others would arrive when she felt several spiritual pressures appear nearby. "You will regret this so much, little soul reaper!" she chirped happily, springing into the air.

As the other soul reapers dashed to the scene, Aracelis waited from her vantage point in the sky. Once they had all converged- in total ten- she laughed maniacally as she opened a Garganta that split the blue sky. The soul reapers all drew their swords, jumping into the air in attempt to stop her before she made her escape, but their faces all paled. From the void three giant white masks appeared, the Menos Grande howling as they looked through the opening. The Garganta strained as the three gargantuan hollows stepped out per the order of the Vasto Lorde.

Aracelis watched as the soul reapers scattered, yelling to each other and through their communication devices. Humans scrambled as an unseen force caused the ground to quake, cement buckling under the extreme weight of the Menos. One fired a cero, the red light gouging out a crater as it incinerated the unlucky soul reaper standing in its path. She just watched as the chaos tore the park asunder, the screeches of death and pain ringing out as the Menos went on a rampage.

After seven soul reapers were wiped out of existence, Aracelis shook her head, grin fading. They were no match for the Menos, easily falling, failing to land even one effective hit. It'd grown boring. Aracelis shrugged. She walked through the Garganta, closing it behind her, leaving the Menos to wreak havoc until the soul reapers called forth someone able to kill them. It was no longer her problem.

Not even an hour later, as Aracelis reclined in the top of a tree amongst the sea of sand, the beating of wings woke her. He landed a distance away from the tree, not coming closer as his wings folded. She sat up, head tilting to the side as she looked at him. This was the first time he had sought her out and not the other way around.

"You sent Menos to the human world."

Aracelis rolled her eyes as she jumped down from the tree, closing the gap between her and her favorite hollow. "Is that a question or a statement?" She leaned forward, waiting. He, being so much more patient, stayed silent as he waited for her to get on with an explanation rather than allowing her the opportunity to tease him. "Fine. A few soul reapers interrupted my human watching, and I decided to leave them with a gift or three. I thought it'd be fun, and it was… for a few minutes." Her lips curved downwards, the soul reapers a complete disappointment. She had hoped they would put up a better fight. With a sigh, she shook off the discontent, instead giving a toothy grin in anticipation for her next question. "Where you watching me? I mean, how else would you know this?"

"You are the only one foolish enough to drop Menos into the human world. I did not need to watch you do it to sense the Menos traveling through a Garganta."

"Aw, you don't follow me around like a lost pet when I leave? I'm so sad," Aracelis pouted, barely holding in her laughter. He wasn't even fazed by her attempts to taunt him, nor her mocking words. That quickly sent her back into silence. She turned around, no longer facing him, and studied the dark sky above, thinking back to the blue, cloud-filled skies of the human world.

"What did you consider 'fun' about sending Menos to the human world?"

"Huh?" Aracelis glanced over her shoulder, nearly missing the question because she expected him to leave- like usual. "What was fun about it? Is that what you said?" She took his silence as confirmation. "I guess," she began, crossing her arms over chest, tapping a finger on her arm as she thought. "I don't know… I guess it was just that they were so surprised to see Menos falling down on them. So their reactions were fun, I suppose," she said with a slight shrug. "I was amused by it. That's why I like talking with you, because you amuse me."

Her thoughts caught up with her own words. Did he find her amusing as well? He didn't really _need_ to tolerate her the way he did; he'd even sought her out now, apparently. When she glanced over to him again, his face remained blank –well, a mask only allowed for so much expression to begin with-, his eyes not revealing anything either. The silence bordered on deafening. Aracelis had no idea what he was thinking, if her words had even registered or if he was mulling over them as well. She doubted it, but for some reason she liked the idea of him being confused by her admittance of liking being around him. That was clearly what she meant when she said she found him amusing. For some unidentified reason it felt like her face flushed at the idea of him thinking that over.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," Aracelis said merely to break the silence that had become unbearable- to her anyway. She turned around, invading his space once more. Two words were all she needed to erase her earlier ones. "Fight me."

His eyes narrowed ever so slightly in response to her sudden, illogical proposal.

The small reaction was enough to make Aracelis grin madly. "I won't kill you, of course. You can try to kill me if you want, but I doubt you can." At this point she stood with one hand on her hip, her back straightened to make herself look as arrogant as she could. "You should at least be able to hit me; those soul reapers are just no match. So…" She leaned in, narrowing the space between their faces in attempt to make him uncomfortable. His face remained infuriatingly blank, of course. "Will you fight me?"

"To what end?"

"You want something if you win, then?" Aracelis shrugged, figuring he wouldn't just fight her for the hell of it. "If you manage to beat me, I guess I'll leave you alone. That good enough? Will you fight me now? I'll even give you the first move."

One slow, exasperated looking blink later, he stepped back to allow some space between them before they tried to kill each other. Aracelis jumped backwards, sending a ring of white sand into the air when she landed. As she stood waiting for him to make his move, the odd stillness of Hueco Mundo made the situation seem unusually tense. That calm was shattered by the sudden bright green light of a cero blasting away the ground. Using sonido she avoided the burst of energy. As the sand where she had stood exploded, the grit forming a blinding cloud that billowed out around the area, her eyes searched for him. Within a fraction of a second a sharp clawed hand reached out of the obscuring sand. She caught his wrist, ready to throw him back to the ground. Another glow.

Another green-hued cero fired from his other hand, aimed directly for her head. Before it finished charging she spun her body around, flinging him upwards as she maneuvered. Her foot caught his side, sending him to the ground and making the cero miss.

"You're actually trying to kill me?" she shouted, barely hearing the sound of his wings as he picked himself off of the ground. "Now that's just mean! I thought we were friends!" She wished the sand would settle. How was she supposed to watch for his reaction to her teasing? With that thought, she held out a hand, palm glowing as blue energy gathered. She aimed at the ground. Her own cero smashed into the ground, the shockwave radiating out and clearing the sand from the air.

He wasn't in her sights. As she turned her head she held back scream. Her left arm fell to the ground, the wound seeping dark blood onto the white sand below. As Ulquiorra went to slash at her again she disappeared from his sight using sonido. Her heel smashed into his shoulder, the kick sending him flying a distance until he was able to unfurl his wings to stop. Aracelis held her hand up to the gaping wound where her severed arm had once been.

"Now that was just flat out uncalled for. To be honest, you've sort of pissed me off." Her icy eyes glared at him. Behind the hint of pain in her voice, the mocking tone remained. She dropped her right arm to her side. "You're lucky I promised not to kill you, because you cut off my arm under the assumption it would be gone forever. That's just rude," she pouted, her tone making it obvious that she was not being serious. She didn't seem to care that her arm was sliced off. "I guess you get to see something I'm sure even you will find surprising. While I am certainly not a strong, thick-skinned Vasto Lorde, I do have an advantage most others don't."

His eyes widened, ignoring her voice as he watched her arm regenerate. It took only seconds for the arm to regrow, fully healed as though it had not been sliced off seconds ago. She had been right. He was stunned by the speed at which she could regrow a missing limb. Even he had advanced regeneration, but it was nothing compared to what she had just done.

"Apparently when my mask broke my ability to heal improved. Neat, huh?" With that incredibly understated remark, she disappeared from sight with sonido. Before he had the chance to fully raise an arm to block, her foot smashed into the side of his head, knocking him to the ground. "I'm still mad you cut off my arm, though." She landed next to him as he picked himself up. "That's enough fighting for now. You're stronger than I thought. Did you get faster? The last time I saw you use a cero it wasn't nearly that quick to charge. And you nearly blocked that last kick; nice."

He ignored her compliment, instead his focus purely on the broken mask. She cited it as the reason she could regenerate to such a degree, but it did not make sense. Her mask being broken should weaken her; not the opposite. "How was your mask broken?" he asked. It was the quickest way to figure out what she was.

"Oh?" She pointed to the section of mask over her left cheek and forehead. "You finally asking about it?" He'd only gawked at it every time she visited. "I tried to tear it off to see what would happen."

"You tried to tear off your own mask?" His voice _almost_ raised with his astonishment. He knew she liked to act foolishly, but to go as far as tearing off her own mask? There was more wrong with her than he thought.

"I did, but," she crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes avoiding his. "I only remember hearing it crack before I passed out from the pain." For once her tone became serious, her own confusion at the event evident. Her eyes narrowed, eyebrows pushing together. "I don't know what exactly happened, but when I woke up my mask was broken, and this sword beside me." Aracelis grabbed the hilt of the sword subconsciously, her fingers gripping it tightly. "I feel like cracking my mask has little to do with how it ended up broken, other than it may have left me defenseless to whatever actually happened."

"You believe someone else broke it despite admitting you had tried tear it off yourself? You want to place the blame elsewhere. Your rash actions likely caused your mask to shatter, the pain causing you to forget." She only gave a blank stare at his words, not even angry with him accusing her of bringing this upon herself. He expected her to react differently, but she did have an irritating tendency to do the opposite of what he believed she would do. Contradiction was in her nature. "The fact you woke up with that sword, however, is consistent with someone else's interference in your suicidal experiment." Despite her never drawing the sword in battle, he could sense her power in the blade, as though it was a part of her rather than a weapon she'd happened upon. "It appears similar to a soul reaper's zanpakuto. Does it have similar capabilities?"

Aracelis laughed once, that being one of the longest statements she'd ever heard him say. Hearing his voice for so long was almost weird- although she would admit she liked listening to him talk. To top it off he appeared to be interested in the circumstances revolving around her broken mask and sword. She withdrew the blade from the sheath, letting him observe it.

"I can't tell if it does or not. I haven't been able to figure out if it has a command it obeys or if it has a name." She waved the blade around in front of her, showing that it was in fact boringly normal.

The stronger soul reapers could use what they called the shikai form of their zanpakuto if they knew the sword's name- she'd taken the time to interrogate that out of a soul reaper before killing them. If her blade was similar she certainly hadn't figured out what name it could possibly have or how to learn it.

When he grabbed the end of the sword to stop her from flinging it about, her thoughts froze. He pulled at it, trying to examine it, but Aracelis stubbornly held onto the grip, refusing to hand it over.

"Did I say you could hold it?" She stepped closer, letting him keep his hand on it, but not releasing her hold. He ignored her, focusing on looking over the blade despite not being free to turn it around. "For some reason I don't trust you with it," she muttered, watching him closely as he stared at the metal.

When his interest subsided he let go of the sword, allowing Aracelis to re-sheath it with a scowl aimed at him. He hadn't noticed anything special about the blade itself. The only fact that could be of any importance was its spiritual energy- but he had already noted that it was the same as hers.

"You don't get it either then? That's too bad," Aracelis sighed. "Although, I guess it was expecting too much for an Adhucha to explain what a Vasto Lorde couldn't." She rolled her eyes when he didn't acknowledge the insult. "I guess that doesn't get a reaction out of you still," she grumbled. Insults. Compliments. He didn't care. "Well, I guess I'll stick with insane actions and unanswerable mysteries. Those seem to entertain you." Aracelis turned to leave, figuring he was done with her antics for the day; she didn't want to piss him off too much or he wouldn't talk to her.

"The scar on your shoulder, how did you get it?" Other than her mask, that aspect of her always bothered him. The scar marring her shoulder would have been difficult to create considering her ability to regenerate and the thickness of a hollow's hierro.

"Huh?" She whipped her head around to first look at him before she focused on the discolored skin across her right shoulder. The paler scar tissue formed a spiky circle that covered all of her right shoulder. No matter how much she hated looking at it, she kept it uncovered because it… Well it almost felt like bugs paraded across it when it was covered up. The constant prickling feeling was worse than keeping it uncovered, so she had to compromise. "It's not related to my mask being broken, if that's what you were thinking. I've had it for as long as I can remember."

She could see his interest die as soon as she said it'd been there for a long time. With the silence settling in again, she shrugged, taking it as a sign it was time to leave. Wordlessly she began walking away, leaving him to whatever it was he did when she was gone.


	4. Chapter 4- Change

_And time went on and on, immeasurable and insignificant to an ageless hollow in the land of eternal night. It was peacefully dull considering that hollows still slaughtered each other in search of power, but that is what Hueco Mundo had always been. Constant._

 _Change had been what caused the disruption of routine. Slowly and gradually, the changes came, while I remained much the same. I had reached the peak of evolution, no room for further growth nor change. Ulquiorra continued to gain strength, his evolution into a Vasto Lorde not far from being realized. The strange construction in the palace ruled over by 'king' of Hueco Mundo, Baraggan Louisenbairn. It all paved the way towards war and strife._

 _At that time, I don't think any hollow fully understood the disturbance to the consistent world we had come to expect. I sure didn't. I continued on doing what I had always done, ignorant to it all. Had I known, perhaps I would have acted differently. Maybe I would have made more memories in a simpler time that I could look back on… fondly? Yeah, that's sadly the word for it. I wish I had gone out of my way to memorize the conversations I had with Ulquiorra before the world seemed to fall apart._

 _But no. Instead the most vivid memories I had only hinted at the turmoil to come._

* * *

The hollow reared up, screeching as it brought down its large tusks in attempt to crush Aracelis beneath them. The massive Adhucha-class hollow's hoof-like feet stamped into the sand, still managing to shake the area around it despite the grains dampening the blow. As the dust cleared, the human-like silhouette showed how ineffective the boar-like hollow's attack had been. It gave a snort, blowing sand and steam through the air, before it charged forward to trample Aracelis. She caught the hollow's tusk with the edge of the sword, unable to stop the attack as she was pushed through the sand.

That had been a repeating pattern throughout her battle with the giant hollow. Ulquiorra watched on, having happened upon the battle some time ago whilst wandering about the desert. Aracelis did not battle often- if one discounted what she'd taken to calling 'sparring' with him as well as the soul reapers she reportedly fought in the land of the living. She was frustrated currently, her scowl permanently set on her face as she lashed out at the boar every time it drew near her. It appeared as though she was training to use her sword because she only allowed herself to use the blade, conflicting with her typical fighting style. He had yet to see her kick the hollow, which was one of her preferred attacks, as well as a lack of ceros exploding through the air.

The boar shook its head, sending Aracelis skyward. She skidded to a stop in midair before rebounding back to swing for the hollow's mask, not bothering to use sonido because the beast's speed bordered on pathetic. Had she not been playing with it, the creature would have fallen long ago based on the differences in speed alone. Her sword struck the corner of the mask and a nerve with boar. As Aracelis jumped back, the hollow charged a red-glowing cero between its tusks.

It fired with a blare of noise, the sand showering into the air as it was displaced. The cero halted. The ball of energy fought to continue forward, but Aracelis rolled her eyes as she held it back with a single hand. With one flex of her fingers the cero shattered. The beast hesitated a second before it charged forward again, screeching in anger.

The tusk met the sword again, the edge of the blade digging in but not slicing completely through. As her feet dug into the sand once more, she bared her teeth, eyes showing her patience drained.

"You're so damn irritating!" she yelled as she grabbed the tusk with her free hand, stopping the creature in place.

She tossed her sword to the side to grab the tusk with both hands. Soon the boar launched into the air after she flipped it over herself. While it fell, she sent herself through the air with sonido, foot smashing into the boar's mask to send it crashing into the ground. Aracelis remained in the air, hand open as a blue-tinged glow formed in her palm. A point-blank cero blasted the head off of the boar, ending its existence. _That_ was more her style than sword-play.

 _That_ was how she fought him, except she chose to spare him the cero to the face- she aimed for the ground near him, usually. Only once had she used a cero to hit one of his wings, claiming she had grown annoyed with his 'flitting about' during one 'sparring match.' In truth he had caught her off-guard and smacked her in the face with his wings. It was quite obvious she was mad that he had hit her and chose to take revenge on the offending wing. Still, her apparent mercy towards him was confusing; that other hollow had earned no pity from the strange woman, so why did he?

Once she hopped of the disappearing carcass, she calmly walked over to her sword and plucked it out of the sand to return it to the sheath at her hip. Immediately she came towards him, well aware he had been watching for some time now.

"Hey, Ulquiorra, what're you up to?" she asked, a grin on her face showing that she intended on adding to her greeting. And he was right. "Were you worried when you sensed me fighting and decided to come help me?"

He ignored her teasing, knowing that she wanted a reaction that he didn't feel necessary to give. By now she should understand that her teasing was ineffective and simply cease with it, but no, she continued on perhaps knowing it _did_ slightly irritate him with the senselessness of her efforts.

"Are you ignoring me now?" She gave a pout before she laughed at her own behavior. A shrug was her response when she was ignored once more. "Fine. I'm done." She placed a hand on her hip, waving the other about animatedly as she talked. "You have anything to talk about? I mean, you watched me fight that thing and that's sadly the most interesting thing I've done since we talked last."

"Why do you insist on speaking with me when there are other hollows you could pester?"

"Haven't we been over this before?" Her wry smile returned to her face as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You happen to be the most tolerable hollow I've come across. You're rational, intelligent, but also not afraid to insult me. And I'm stronger than you, so you can't order me around." She sighed, blowing her hair out her face. "That's what would inevitably happen if I decided to join up with the few other packs around. Baraggan Louisenbairn's little army doesn't interest me. Who are they going to fight? Themselves? I've met Tier Harribel a few times. I actually don't mind her, but her ideals don't interest me and her other followers are somewhat obnoxious. There is a large group of Adhuchas following after a panther hollow on the verge of becoming a Vasto Lorde, but he is cocky and rash and overall annoying." Aracelis paused, looking away from Ulquiorra to view the sliver of a moon above.

"To be honest," she began again after a moment of silence, "after becoming a Vasto Lorde, I grew bored of Hueco Mundo. I eventually became sick of my own thoughts and decided that if I found someone else to talk to, I wouldn't be living in complete apathy."

"You were lonely." That is what he told her the first time they met. It was evident that she had been searching for a suitable companion, and, by some mistake, it ended up being him. Perhaps he should have tried to kill her, even though he likely would have lost at that time.

A single laugh brought attention back to her. "Yeah, okay, I was lonely. I'm pathetic, I know. Being alone was no fun when I became a Vasto Lorde." Aracelis paused, staring at Ulquiorra for a few seconds, trying to determine if he understood what she meant, but his sense of empathy was severely lacking even for a hollow. He was smart, clearly, but relating to another's point of view… he was awful at it. "What is it you do when I'm not bothering you?" He might understand if she could provide an example for him to think over, but even that was a long shot.

"I hunt." The answer was obvious. What else was there for a hollow to do but gain power and evolve? He had never encountered a hollow that sought something else from their existence in Hueco Mundo. Power was central. To have power meant survival. To survive lead to evolution. Evolution allowed for the ability to reason. Beyond that… What was there?

"That's what I thought. You see, I'm in a position where everything is either pathetically weak or much stronger and too risky to fight against. Hunting can no longer occupy my time. You saw that fight earlier. When I actually want to fight, I have to either hold back or have a two second battle."

"Yet you continually insist on fighting with me," he nearly interrupted, using her small break between her sentences to bring up the inconsistency in her words and actions.

"I," she started before sighing heavily. "You're going to hate my reasoning- although you'll probably just say that it isn't a reason at all." At his blank stare she bit her lip. Honestly, her reason to fighting him was sadder than her being lonely without another's company. "After fighting with you the first time, I saw that your fighting style is sort of similar to my own. And, I, ah," her eyes drifted away from his face back to the ground. "I was reminded of when I was an Adhucha and before I, um, broke my mask. I used to have wings, claws, and a tail. I miss fighting with them; instead I have this stupid sword now." She narrowed her eyes at the blade. It was worthless compared to what she had been able to do with her claws and tail. "I _really_ miss my wings and flying, though. I'm sort of jealous of you. Not being bound to the ground… that's a freedom in itself. Makes traveling easier. And dodging. As well as…"

"What sort of hollow are you?" The question would be sufficient in stopping her from rambling. Her reason was indeed ridiculous. Jealousy? That was her motivation in attacking him? Aracelis remained an oddity for a hollow. How had she survived to become a Vasto Lorde in the first place? Her emotions seemed to rule over her, causing her to act with such rash impulsiveness that she should have died long before reaching such heights of power. Perhaps her only instinct she heeded was to avoid battles she could not win. How that _one_ instinct kept her alive was miraculous, although her speed and regeneration may have played a larger role in her survival.

"A dragonfly," she answered, leaning forward. Her eyes narrowed as she stared him down for a few seconds. "You just wanted me to stop talking, didn't you?" His silence confirmed that that was exactly what he had done. He was getting too good at manipulating her into doing as he wanted. Soon she probably wouldn't even notice when he was doing it. "Fine, whatever."

Aracelis turned around, taking a few steps away before looking up at the sky once again. As the silence settled in, she expected him to leave, but he remained, perhaps considering some eccentricity of hers he found perplexing. They both entertained each other with their differences. Or at least she hoped that was the case. His expressions could be hard to read considering if she glanced away for a millisecond she would miss what reaction his eyes couldn't hide. Facial expressions were a rarity for him, appearing only when he began really irritated or shocked. At times she wondered what it would take to make him shout; she'd never even got him to raise his voice at her. While she was curious what would trigger that reaction, she would rather it not be directed at her.

When she said she was lonely, she meant it. Before becoming a Vasto Lorde, she relished the solitude. Being near other hollows brought with it a sense of fear. A fear that they could turn on her and devour her if she let her guard down. Only after evolving did she recognize that she could attempt to befriend others if they were weaker than her. Then, if they tried to kill her, she would simply get rid of them first.

That had been a giant mistake. Now that she had grown used to having company, she was apprehensive to kill. She lived on the good graces of Ulquiorra. If he wanted to kill her, he could. She wouldn't be able to kill him now that she had grown so attached. If the time came when they fought to the death, she doubted he would spare her. She was a nuisance to him. A parasite clinging to him, just out of reach. With her ridiculous need for companionship, she unknowingly sentenced herself to death.

She sighed, trying to push back the thoughts once again. Her fate was sealed, there was no need to dwell on the unavoidable. A distraction was needed. Without turning to face him, she asked, "Do you want to go the world of the living with me?"

A few seconds passed, no response. Aracelis glanced over her shoulder to find Ulquiorra's gaze fixed on the sky. When he noticed her stare he glanced at her, eyes slightly narrowing when he noticed her narrow-eyed glare. The look he gave her conveyed 'why are you regarding at me in such a manner?' She slowly turned her head back around to avoid him asking her aloud.

Her frown worsened once he could no longer see her expression. He hadn't heard her. Admittedly she may have mumbled the question a bit, but the look he had… He had no idea that she had even made a noise.

She turned around again, this time walking closer to him. Once she stood about an arm's length away, she repeated, "Do you want to go to the world of the living with me?" in the same volume as she had earlier. Her eyes focused on his, but his eyes glanced slightly downwards as she spoke before returning to staring blankly into hers.

"It would be pointless to go to the human world. The souls there are trash to be fed upon by lower hollows." She should have no interest in humans. Even he considered humans an unworthy meal. He could not understand why she continued to travel there just to observe humans. There was no purpose. "Your continued fascination with such weak creatures is odd."

"Have you ever just watched them? They're just… _bizarre._ " That was the one word she would use to sum up a human's entire being. Bizarre. It was the perfect word to describe how humans seemed to a hollow. "Their sense of trust is outstandingly high. I mean," she began, stepping within inches of Ulquiorra, much to his apparent distaste. His body became rigid as his muscles tensed in preparation to fight or flee. "They will stand _this_ close- sometimes closer- without fear of being torn apart. They trust each other _so much_ that they won't even keep constant watch when within this distance. And, occasionally," she reached out, grabbing one of his clawed hands. The resulting glare made her words slip away for a second, but she kept hold of his hand, determined to make an example of the action. She raised their hands between them to eye-level, intertwining their fingers.

"Occasionally they will hold hands like this," she paused, tightening her grip continually, waiting. "And they just continue on as though they held no sense of boundaries and utterly trusted the other person they're with. They do a lot of things similar to this that just don't make sense to me, most in the name of affection." She loosened her crushing grip after his hand twitched, showing he acknowledged the pressure. It'd taken far too long. "Because I cannot understand it, I keep observing them in hopes their actions will make sense eventually. I assume that's why you tolerate me. My actions don't make sense to you, so you are trying to understand them through analysis."

"That comparison is inaccurate. Your fascination with humans far exceeds my minimal interest in you." He took a second to glare at her hand still holding his as she began to move them both from side to side. "I will, however, admit that I find your actions confusing. I do not-" he cut himself off, glancing to his side. She was jabbing him in his ribs with her sword's sheath. He hadn't seen her take it from her sash, most likely distracted by her earlier waving around of their hands. "What are you doing?" he stated flatly, his blank stare focused on her as he awaited an answer for her behavior.

"I've been poking you with it since you started talking, but you just now noticed?" Her brow scrunched as she frowned. "When I squeezed your hand earlier I nearly had to break it to get your attention. You couldn't feel it sooner?" His silence made her sigh with frustration. She released his hand, using hers to cover her mouth. "You can't hear well either, can you?"

He stood there, staring, the words too muffled behind her hand to understand. She had him cornered, her glare fixing him in place, preventing him from forming some way to deflect her suspicion. He hadn't expected her to notice so soon.

She uncovered her mouth after a few seconds, knowing she had just confirmed her concerns. "You can't hear well. I tried to ask you something with my back turned to you earlier and you didn't have any idea of what I said. You've been relying on reading my lips to understand what I'm saying when you can't hear me, too." She crossed her arms over her chest, breaking eye contact. How? How does a hollow just lose senses as key as hearing and touch? Her icy gaze returned to his emerald eyes. "When did this happen? How did this happen?" She shifted her tone, the questions becoming stern in their demand for an answer, but also somber.

Ulquiorra did not answer right away. He had to debate how much he wished to share with the odd woman that seemed overly concerned with a problem that wasn't hers. She had noticed his diminished senses, but only his hearing and sense of touch. She did not know that his sense of smell was nearly gone, that speaking was becoming more difficult as the mask covering his face seemed to be fusing together. Only his sight remained unaffected. If this progressed further, he would only be able to see, nothing else existing in a silent world devoid of physical sensory. That level of weakness wasn't something to share.

"It has been a gradual change," he settled on. Her sigh showed his answer had been unsatisfactory, but he did not intend on speaking further on the subject. "Do not concern yourself with it."

She held back her shouts by grinding her teeth together. The only thing she wanted to scream at him was that it _did_ concern her. If he lost his senses, he might be defeated by another hollow. Then she would be alone. She already knew that this sort of irrational argument wouldn't work with him. Even if it did, his voice held a finality that made sure she knew that he would not speak about it further no matter how much she protested.

"F-fine," she forced out through her teeth. "Whatever. You're right. It's not my problem. I don't care. Not one bit." Aracelis turned to the side, her brow scrunched together in a deep-set frown as she tapped her foot on the ground.

The passive-aggressive tone matched with her expression made it obvious she was blatantly lying. She cared. She was concerned for his well-being and it made no sense. What did she gain by him being alive? Was her desire for companionship that strong? A hollow caring for another without there being a selfish motive… Such a hollow didn't exist. Whatever Aracelis wanted, her concern was surly feigned in order to meet some other end. He could never find that reason no matter how much he pondered over it, though.

Every time he was forced to conclude she was lonely and truly wished for a companion in the pit of a world that was Hueco Mundo. She had chosen him… and he allowed for it. He continued to allow it. He could simply have walked away or ignored her, but he did not. He kept track of when she left and returned to Hueco Mundo. He would not try to avoid her if he sensed her approaching. On occasion he would even find himself subconsciously flying towards her location. Her irrationality was beginning to influence him.

Aracelis turned around, showing she had no more to say- discounting her pent up frustration. She wanted to complain about her concerns for him, but clearly that was a conversation deemed to never happen. That left her with nothing. Her activities had been exceedingly boring lately. There was nothing further to discuss, unless he suddenly gained an interest in human behavior beyond questioning how she found their insignificant lives interesting.

The beating of wings showed he had nothing more to say to her as well.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **I would enjoy hearing what you think of this so far, especially in regards to keeping Ulquiorra in character and general impressions of Aracelis because I would rather not have her be a Mary Sue. So please review.**

 **Thank you to Cameloti for the fav and follow!**

 **-AwkwardBlackCat**


	5. Chapter 5- Parting

_And then came that day… That day we were forced apart for no other reason than my own foolishness. If only I paid attention to him rather than the sound of my own voice… Hindsight really is a cruel thing._

The silver moon shown above, lighting the black sky of Hueco Mundo as it had for a time-eternal. Aracelis stretched as she stood up, then moving to brush the white sand from her tattered, black shirt and shorts. She yawned, forcing the drowsiness of her nap away as she looked around for any changes in the desert since her little rest. Nothing, of course.

"Why did I expect it to be different?" she muttered to herself disappointedly. Lately everything seemed to be the same, dull, boring routine. Her stints in the human world revealed no revelations on why humans were so strange. Soul reapers only seemed to grow weaker as time progressed forward. The only thing, or rather, hollow, that had any sort of value was Ulquiorra.

Her eyes drifted to the side where she could sense him standing, his eyes focused on the moon. He had grown quieter as he evolved. His strength now was at her level, perhaps even greater, but that didn't bother her. It was his eyes. He seemed… distant. Melancholic, even? With his evolution came… consequences.

His form remained pure white with the exception of his dark hair, his wings, and his green eyes. He could no longer hear, nor could he speak. His senses were pretty much gone, leaving him only with his sight.

Aracelis sighed, hanging her head to look at the ground below her feet. He stuck around her, now, never straying too far away. It was not protection he sought from her, though. He could still see, as well as sense spiritual pressure- he had managed to find her after all. Why he stayed…? She had no idea. Even if he could, he probably wouldn't answer a weird question like that.

She dragged her feet through the sand as she went to stand in front of him. "Hey, Ulquiorra," she said carefully as soon as she caught his attention. He could manage to read her lips if she talked slowly. It was one of the few advantages to her human appearance; had she a mouth like a normal hollow, she would not have lips to read, effectively ending her conversations with her favorite hollow for good. Even one-sided conversations were better than nothing. "Do you want to go to the human world with me or something? I'm getting bored of standing around here, doing nothing."

His emerald eyes stared back at her for a second before he barely noticeably shook his head 'no.' He never did want to go there, even before he evolved. 'There is nothing of interest there,' he had said once. 'Humans are trash. I do not see why you find them to be fascinating,' had been another of his responses. That's what he would say now, if he could.

"Fine," she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't know what else to do, though." There was only so much to be done in Hueco Mundo, and their sense of 'fun' was completely different. Actually, she had no idea if he even knew what fun was- he was always so serious. She shifted her weight, the movement causing her sword to move in the sash tied around her waist. "Hey, Ulquiorra, want to spar or something? I'm seriously bored out of my mind."

She waited for his response. Occasionally he would accept her offers to 'fight her,' but it often ended with her growing bored of beating him. Well, it had in the past. Now, though, they might be on more equal footing. It may be more interesting since he stood a chance. But, with his new power, he _could_ actually kill her. That caused her to be wary of challenging him lately. She won't blame him if he did kill her; she had been annoying him for a _long_ time. Or at least she assumed she was bothering him. He was never quite clear if he detested her or found her presence rather insignificant. She doubted he had an active interest in her; no, that would be asking for too much. It had always been a one-sided affair. It would probably _always_ be a one-sided friendship -if that's even possible. Even if she didn't want it to be true, it was an undeniable fact given his personality. She was pest to him while he was her sole companion in the wasteland of Hueco Mundo.

His prolonged silence made her sigh and shake her head. "Come on, we won't kill each other- or at least I won't kill you. You can kill me, though, if you really wanted." Aracelis placed a hand on her hip, pouting when he continued to stare at her without any noticeable response. After a second she caught the ridiculously exaggerated expression she was making and made her face blank. That habit had only gotten worse because she was overly aware that he could only make so much sense of her when she ranted, her tone completely useless, therefore making facial expressions her go-to show of irritation.

"I know you don't mind fighting, so why not spar with me for just a little bit? Just to exercise? Get rid of a little frustration?" She raised an eyebrow. Were she in his situation of being left with minimal senses, she would be rampaging through Hueco Mundo. After cracking her mask and losing her wings she practically did tear up the desert while searching for something to do. It was doubtful he would do that, considering his calm rationality, but maybe fighting would be enough to distract him for a while. His eyes were seriously unnerving with how miserable they appeared. Anything to distract him from whatever made him appear so… down, she'd do it. Her damn sense of concern apparently demanded she do _something_. What an irritating thing for a hollow to have.

After he looked at her blankly for a few minutes, she sighed in defeat. She turned around, throwing her hands up, beginning to walk away in search of something else to do. A blur seen in the corner of her eye made her pupils constrict. She stopped in her tracks, leaning back as a claws breezed in front of her face, slicing strands of hair that lingered. Her heels dug into the ground, allowing her to vault backwards to do a flip through the air.

When her feet met the ground a few feet away, her mouth formed a grin. "That wasn't very nice, attacking me from behind like that!" she yelled, shifting her weight between her feet to bounce back and forth. He stared back at her, his eyes never leaving her as he turned to fully face her once more. "Let's see how well you do when I'm paying attention!"

Her feet left the ground as she launched herself at him. A wing lashed out to block her, but she sprung upwards. Using sonido, she smashed into the ground behind him to aim a blow. As he turned to slash at her, her nails glanced off his back, leaving only a small, barely bleeding scratch. Before he could hit her, Aracelis retreated to stand a few feet away.

He came at her with a fury of kicks and jabs, her mind on auto-pilot to avoid being hit. His speed… it was incredible. Never had she thought he could match her speed, but, right now, he was nearly overtaking it.

As he aimed to cut into her face she spun to the side to create momentum. Her foot crashed into his side, sending him back a few inches. While he stepped to come at her again she darted forward to hit his face with her nails. She made only a small scrap. His claws cut into her arm, forcing her back once more.

His hierro… Damn it was thick. She looked to her arm to see four rugged lines oozing blood. Her skin was sliced through, a layer of muscle along with it. That made it not quite a severe injury, but certainly not superficial either. In a few seconds the wound closed due to her regenerative abilities. One hit and he had already drawn more blood that she had in two, though. At this rate he would shred her apart before she could even slow him down. If only her nails were as sharp as his claws…

She smiled brightly as he used sonido to attack her again. At least he was not as practiced with it as she was. His movements remained readable, not escaping her pesquisa. While he brought back his arm to stab at her, she reached to her side. In one fluid movement she had her sword drawn, the blade slicing across his arm to stain the white skin red. They both retreated, Ulquiorra into the air and Aracelis staying on the ground.

He did not glance at the wound, making her wonder if he even felt it. His ability to sense pain may have left him like everything else did when he evolved. If her aim was to not kill him, she would have to be careful of how deep her cuts went.

They traded blows for a while, both receiving superficial gashes that would close in seconds. For the most part they fought on the ground, only leaving the white sand to dodge or take a moment of respite from the barrage of attacks. Aracelis grinned madly the entire time, this being one of the first times she did not need to restrain herself in a long time. No, if she did, she would be cut down effortlessly. Every time he nearly slashed off an arm. Every gouge that cut just shallow of hitting organs. The exhilaration as blood seeped from wounds, no matter if they were hers or his. The chaos of battle. She had missed it so damn much. At this moment, if he actually did kill her, she would regret nothing. This is what a hollow was meant for.

He caught her sword by the blade. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched his other hand raise to point a single finger at her. It was obvious what was coming before the green glow formed. She wretched her sword to side, slicing into his hand to free itself. In the same movement she leaned her body to bring her leg up to kick his hand to stop the cero before it fired.

Sharpened nails dug into her ankle. Before she had a chance to react he tossed her violently to the side. She tumbled through the sand, the grains rubbing her skin raw in areas while her eyes burned from grit entering them. She barely avoided impaling herself on her sword because she refused to release it. After a hundred feet of seeing sand-sky-sand, she slowed enough to slam her hands into the ground to come to a stop.

She pushed herself up while spitting out sand. Immediately she stumbled, catching herself by planting her sword into the ground as a makeshift support. Her left leg flared with pain, causing her to take sharp breaths that neared hyperventilation. The scratches were nothing compared to the internal damage that left her momentarily unable to stand. The bone had to be completely shattered. A glance down at the violently bruised, pin-cushion of fragmented bones sticking out of the skin confirmed he had obliterated the bone. It would have been less painful had he sliced it off.

Her grin only faltered under the pain for second. She raised her sword to point it at him as soon as her leg healed enough to bare the slightest weight. At this rate she would die. His grip had cracked the bone like it were a fragile twig. If he landed a blow like that to her skull or ribcage, that would be it. That amount of internal damage would kill her. None of that mattered, though, as rationality disappeared in the heat of battle. Until that final wound came, she would fight on. Until her regeneration proved useless, she wouldn't stop. Not until she beat him into submission or he killed. She was ready for any outcome.

Her heels dug into the ground to propel her forward to meet his next attack.

' _Run.'_

Aracelis's brows furrowed at the sudden intrusive thought she'd come to know as instinct. ' _You will die if you keep fighting like this, idiot. He's too powerful. Run.'_ She ground her teeth together. There was no way she was running away, not when she was enjoying herself this much. That damn survival instinct could rot in hell with her if she dies.

' _Run before you get us killed, damn it!'_ the internal voice boomed in her head, if that was even possible. Through gritted teeth she hissed "shut up," hoping Ulquiorra didn't notice her talking to herself. ' _Fine. You are a damn fool anyways. Die if you want.'_

With the annoying instinct to flee quieted, Aracelis stepped forward to take a swing at him. Her grin reformed as she returned her full concentration to fighting. When he drew near to stab at her face, she ducked. A kick to his chest sent him flying into the air where he stopped by unfurling his wings.

He stayed in the air, baiting her to leave the ground. She accepted the challenge despite knowing his wings offered him the advantage. It was moments like these that she missed her wings the most; an actual aerial battle would have been pure bliss. Without hesitation she leapt into the air, automatically racing towards him with her sword extended. Suddenly he was to her side. Panicked, she desperately tried to turn around fast enough to block his hand reaching to grab her head. She managed to swerve to the side. A leathery wing smashed into her face to send her plummeting towards the ground. He appeared beneath her to stop her downward plunge by digging his claws into her torso below her ribs.

Aracelis fell sideways onto the ground, blood dyeing the sand beneath her. She stood up, ready to jump back into the air as soon as her wound healed. Her side kept bleeding. It took a few seconds for the blood to clot and slow the seepage, but, even then, it did not stop. It did not heal. Had she already used up _that_ much of her strength that high-speed regeneration was no longer possible? That didn't make sense. She'd been hurt worse before, so why now? Why was she not healing? Despite the feeling of unease, she was determined to continue on.

Ulquiorra carefully watched her as she pushed herself out of the sand, the cut below her ribs still visibly bleeding. From what he could observe- his view blocked by her arm as she perhaps tried to hide the wound- her regeneration had not instantaneously healed the injury. Logically, the damage to the underlying structure must be regenerating first, as opposed to the flesh above. It had not been his intention to strike that deep. He could not readily tell how hard he was striking her, still not accustomed to the lack of feeling in his claws.

That was why he accepted her offer to fight. She would not kill him. The circumstances would allow him to train without the concern of an equal level opponent killing him should he somehow lose. However, with how the battle was progressing, she may be weaker than he thought. If he had not fought her before, he would have assumed she was holding back, but she never could use the potential that her spiritual pressure indicated she had. She remained seemingly unaware of her own strength.

As soon as her wound presumably healed, her knees bent and legs tensed as she prepared to jump at him. He barely followed the movement, her ability to use sonido still greater than his merely because she had had decades of practice with it. When her sword lashed out again it was a simple matter for him to grab the blade. He had already concluded she had difficulty cutting though his skin with both the blade and her nails.

Her wide grin and wild eyes made him reconsider his decision. He released the sword, wings beating to propel him upwards just in time to miss a cero blasted from her off-hand. Had he not noticed her expression, the cero would have fired through his stomach, perhaps even cutting him in half. If she allowed it, that is. Aracelis would have likely adjusted her aim to make a less devastating injury.

"You're not the only one that can be sneaky with the ceros!" She had not appreciated his earlier attack, apparently. It was the manifestation of her revenge over the slightest things once again. Battling made her petty over the most ridiculous of things. Once he had scratched her sword's sheath after missing an attack aimed for her torso; she made sure to hit him over the head- rather ineffectively- with the sheath later on to make the slight damage 'worth it.' Her amusement over the entire thing had been perplexing.

He dove down at her only to be met by her heel halfway to the ground. As he recovered from being knocked to the side, she appeared above him. In the last possible moment he brought his wing in, her blade sailing through the air instead of slicing off the wing as she intended. With her sword on the downward swing and out of the way, he flung his wing out once more, catching the side of her face. A fresh cut opened across her cheek, her smile instantly reverting to a snarl. He missed whatever she yelled, but presumably it was a complaint about cutting up her face and, therefore, wholly unimportant.

Without hesitation she used sonido to move in closer, her leg already rising to land a kick on the side of his head. It was predictable. He reached out to grab ahold of her ankle as he had done before. As soon as his clawed fingers neared her a faint glow became visible. Another cero. Once again it was predictable. As soon as he had a grip on her leg, he would fling her to the ground. His wings twitched to propel him upwards to avoid the cero.

His arm fell limp at his side as a blue glow exploded upon impact. It had not been a cero. No, not with how quickly it had been charged and fired. The raw power was less than a cero, but more explosive in nature. His eyes snapped away from his arm- he believed that it was broken, but it was hard to tell when he could not actually feel the injury- to Aracelis. Around her closed fist a ring of energy crackled.

"I actually have no idea what this is other than some variant of a cero," she admitted, shaking her hand to dispel the energy. "I hadn't used it on you until now because I wasn't sure how much damage it would do. I mean, your arm is still attached, so it wasn't too bad, I hope."

She did not allow him time to recover or process her poor explanation. Instead, she momentarily disappeared from sight, reappearing above him, sword poised to strike. A line of blood dripped down his shoulder, another line trickling from his hand as it gripped the blade, preventing it from slicing deeper.

"With your other arm injured," she said as she took one hand off the hilt of her sword, "grabbing my sword like this isn't a good idea." In the palm of her open hand, energy began to gather, the glow glinting off her eyes.

He released his grip on the sword as he beat his wings to move backwards should she put force back onto the blade to slash deeper into his shoulder. With a second to spare he lashed out at her arm to redirect the cero at the ground rather than himself. While she was momentarily distracted by the fresh cut to her arm and her cero missing, he charged a cero of his own. It missed, Aracelis noticing it before the blast had a chance to hit her. Instead it added to the growing sandstorm below them.

The fight returned to a rather dance-like affair as they traded a flurry of kicks and slashes of claws or blades, the blue and green cero fire gouging out the ground with spectacular show of colored light. With his arm still dangling uselessly at his side, Ulquiorra was put back onto the defensive by Aracelis. Should he manage to block her sword, she would kick him or use a cero. If he avoided a cero, she would attack with her sword or her legs. She did not allow him to make attacks of his own, the smile on her face showing she was enjoying thwarting his efforts. He needed to find some way to take away her new advantage.

The solution was obvious. Taking her sword would leave her unable to further injure him. Without the blade she could no longer readily slice through his hierro. Her kicks only proved able to force him back, not cause harm. The ceros were slow enough to avoid. That left her solely with the variation of a cero, of which she rarely used, the technique likely not mastered and a onetime trick rather than a continual threat.

A green hued cero smashed into the ground, sending a cloud of obscuring white sand out. He shoot through the air towards her silhouette, claws outstretched. His fingers wrapped around her wrist. As he wrestled the sword from her hand, he saw her wrist bend fully backwards. He saw the bone stab out from the skin even if he missed the thundering crack that accompanied the break. From her open mouth he guessed she screamed or at least gasped as her wrist snapped. She dropped her sword to the ground, Ulquiorra grabbing it before she had a chance to take it in her other hand. Now armed with her sword, he flew a distance away to see how she would react.

Another concussive shot rang out. The sand formed a tidal wave as it was carved out by another of the variant ceros. The dust particles blocked out his sight completely, the wall of white whirling around as it slowly settled. In order to clear the area of sand he charged a cero. The green beam sliced through the air, the shockwave pushing the sand to the sides. Another blue blast collided with his cero, dispelling it, but not stopping. A hard flap of his wings allowed him to avoid the attack, but another glow caught his attention. Around her left hand, the circular glow crackled with energy. In one swing another blast bulleted at him. He had been wrong- she was exceedingly skilled with the cero variant she was using. She managed to keep him on the defensive despite losing her sword.

So long as he stayed distant, he could avoid the blasts, but the fight would never end if he kept dodging without counterattacking. His ceros were ineffective- she would hit him before he had a chance to shoot one. At a close distance she wouldn't dare risk catching herself in the explosion; therefore, he would need to get close in order to stop the barrage. Following that, he could attack her, wound her to the point she would come to her senses and end the battle before she sustained permanent damage.

Between blasts he rushed forward, sword extended. Aracelis's eyes widened as she brought an arm in front of her defensively. She took a single step to the side, readying herself to dodge. And then she froze. The sword now only a foot away and her eyes darted to the side, searching frantically for something. As the blade came an inch from cutting the skin on her arm, blood spurted forth, covering her side in a layer of fresh red. The wound below her ribs had somehow reopened, perhaps worse now than it had been before. There was no way to stop momentum as the sword cut through her arm, continuing forward. Her pupils constricted, the reflection of the blade playing across her eyes. It pierced her chest below her collarbone.

Stillness. Neither moved for a few agonizingly long seconds as they both processed what happened. Aracelis broke the stillness as she coughed, scarlet blood trickling down her chin in a line. She stumbled forward, her legs shaking unsteadily under her weight. Ulquiorra released the sword, seeing that if she fell with him holding it she would be further injured. Immediately she fell to the ground, landing on her side, the sword still through her chest and her left arm. She raised her right hand to grasp at the blade, but it hung awkwardly to the side, broken and useless. He found himself reaching a hand towards her, eyes wide as he watched her struggle to remain conscious, to remain _alive_. There was nothing he could do but watch as her breathing went from rapid to shallow, fits of coughing bringing more blood to stain her lips as she desperately tried to say his name of all things. No matter how many times she blinked, her eyes clouded over, becoming unfocused. As the pool around her side grew, her spiritual pressure faded on its way to non-existence.

She was dying. The only hollow he could understand without hearing, and she was dying. The hollow that had pestered and entertained him with her antics for decades, and she was dying. Dying just after he understood what she meant of being a Vasto Lorde: nothingness. She had been right; without the drive to become stronger, the need to devour other hollows, Hueco Mundo was painfully empty. It was a pit of a world filled with mindless beasts that killed and only killed. The monotony of that drove him to cling to her presence to show that there was a hollow in Hueco Mundo that did not seek death, but companionship. That one could reason beyond the state of being a mindless creature. That there was a speck of white amongst the blackened nothingness that was a hollow's existence. And he had killed her. The one hollow that proved she was no threat to him lay motionless at his feet.

His arm dropped to his side. She was no longer moving. Her chest no longer rose nor fell. Her spiritual pressure had dwindled to a faint trace that became increasingly difficult to sense. Soon her entire being would dissolve away into nothingness. There was no reason for him to stay. There was no reason for him to watch her body fade away when she herself had already died. An empty shell did not matter in the slightest to him. Nothing mattered, really.

They lived in an empty world of death. There was nothing beyond that. Hollows were creatures born from death only to die once more at the hands of other hollows or soul reapers. This was an inescapable fate. Aracelis, no matter how human her appearance had become, no matter how powerful she was, could not escape the death of a hollow. What purpose did a hollow's existence even serve? Living was pointless unless they could transcend into something else. Something more powerful. Something death could not touch. An impossible feat considering even the Vasto Lorde lacked the ability to stay alive. That meant there was no perceivable purpose. Living. Dying. It held no importance in a void world. The only conclusion he could reach was that it all meant nothing in the end.

He turned around, flinging his wings to the side before taking off. Without a second glance, he left the body behind, now off to consider if a hollow's life meant anything or absolutely nothing without a defined purpose. There was nothing holding him back from it now. The one hollow that seemed to care whether he was alive or dead was gone, killed by his own hands. If no one acknowledged his existence, then did he exist, or was he also nothing? There was no one interrupting his thoughts now. He had time to consider the nothingness, the void existence of a hollow, and the overall futility of it all.

* * *

 **A/N- Just in case I didn't explain it well enough, Aracelis's 'variant cero' was a bala. Considering the rarity of Arrancar before the war, I don't think that their technique names would be common knowledge- and Aracelis doesn't even know her sword's name, so... yeah.**

So, a lot of the things with Ulquiorra's past had to be inferred from what he thought in the Unmasked extra… sorry if I didn't interpret it too well. I just got the feeling that he would be very isolated with limited senses, and not able to communicate with other hollows- Aracelis the exception in this case, so after that, he is alone. A lot of the other Espada searched out companions of some sort after becoming powerful; Starrk and Lillinete sought companionship to the degree they split into the two beings. Also, with only his sight, his nihilistic attitude makes sense- if he can't see it, it simply doesn't exist. As for seeking a purpose, I think that it would be boring for a hollow after becoming powerful because that hunger is what drives them; if they no longer need to hunt, then there is literally nothing. When Aizen shows up, I think Ulquiorra would have not only respected his power, but also found a purpose in the war. I don't know. I just really hope he's not ooc- he's so hard to understand. I'll quit rambling now…

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you LittleMissHatty for following!**


	6. Chapter 6- Isolation

_Wake up, you idiot!_

That thought caused her to regain enough consciousness to feel pain radiating everywhere. It took a while more for her to remember what had happened. She had been fighting. That was obvious from the pain. But with… No, she had been sparring with Ulquiorra. That was it. The little battle had gotten out of hand, ending with her being stabbed with her sword after losing sight of him. Now, how had that happened? Her vision had gone black for a fraction of a second. Then the wound on her side mysteriously reopened. She hadn't strained it _that_ much, so it had caught her off guard and she hesitated. She remembered being stabbed with her own sword, followed by everything growing blurry. Was she dead? The pain was hellish, so maybe she was in fact dead. But, then again, she was conscious in at least some form if she could reason through things.

 _I can't believe he left you alive, which you won't be for much longer if you don't wake the hell up!_

He… He had spared her? That was… unexpected. Why though? Did he think she had died or had he just decided she wasn't worth the effort? Her thoughts were as mangled as her body, making it too difficult to think clearly. Too tiresome. She sure as hell didn't want to wake up.

 _If you don't wake up soon, we're going to get eaten. I guess using all of your spiritual pressure wasn't enough to keep us hidden; not that that had been the plan. I suppose it's for the best, in the end. You need to open a garganta so we can recover in the human world._

'Yeah, great idea instinct. Let's try to walk through the garganta when our spiritual pressure is drained. And the human world? Really?' Aracelis wanted to laugh at her stupid brain for that suggestion. Once she passed through the garganta- if she made it that far- every soul reaper would be there to greet her. Right now she didn't have the energy to avoid the hollow hunters, let alone fight them. She would be better off in Hueco Mun-

 _Open your damn eyes and look around, you idiot! Can you not sense them? One stumbled upon you and then called a bunch to us with its screeching. Get up! Leave! Soul reapers won't even notice you with how depleted your spiritual power is._

She strained to hear anything aside from her thoughts. Eventually, through the deafening silence, the faint shrieks ringing out scared her into forcing her eyes open. The jolt made her gasp, the unintentional movement bringing on a fresh wave of nauseating pain.

She was greeted by the reflection of her face on the sword stabbed through her left arm and chest. Her reaction was to reach for it and pull it out, but she froze when she moved her right arm and saw her hand. The bone stuck out, still snapped apart, rendering it useless. She couldn't get up until the sword was removed. She needed to… She needed to reset the bone. Then, maybe, it would be functional enough to remove the blade.

The problem now was how to accomplish that when considering her other arm happened to be pinned to her chest by the sword. She didn't want to risk moving the blade around; from her position it was hard to see where it had stabbed through. That, and the pain centered on her chest could either be from the stab wound or the gash across her side. At this point, hitting an organ while removing the blade would finish her off. Even a minor wound would cause fresh blood to leak out and gain the other hollows' attention. Jostling the blade was not a good idea no matter how she looked at it. And, without that other hand to snap her right wrist together, she would have to find some other way to force the bone. Too bad she was short on time.

The howls grew lesser in number as the hollows tore each other apart, fighting to claim her body as a victory meal. Occasionally bloodbath battles like this would happen, one hollow gaining the strength of all of the defeated. Usually a Vasto Lorde wasn't the prize, though. They must be excited. With the accumulated power she held, one of them would skip through ranks quite easily, saving decades of time hunting lesser prey.

 _Now is not the time for this! Think of something or so help me, I will smack you across the face with that useless, broken hand!_

Actually… Aracelis held her hand up again, hesitating. It would hurt like hell, but it would solve the problem more or less. Perhaps her instinct wasn't completely useless. Irritating, yes, but not a useless. With one sharp inhale she slammed her hand into the ground palm first. She bit her lip to prevent a stray shriek from escaping; drawing the other hollows attention now would waste her efforts thus far. After a few seconds of shooting pain in her wrist, the bone fused together. Apparently her regeneration was no longer taking a nap- not that she could use it to heal her whole body with the state she was in.

She gave a testing flex, finding her fingers stiff but useable. Automatically she reached to wrap her hand around the blade, careful to avoid slicing her hand up more. Slowly and carefully she pulled, the sword apprehensive to leave the flesh of her arm. Not her chest. Her eyes flickered downward again. How? How did her chest not hurt as she withdrew the sword? Unless… She shifted slightly, craning her neck uncomfortably, now less worried about moving the blade wrong.

"No way," she whispered, nearly bursting out laughing.

It'd gone through her damn hollow hole. No wonder she was still alive. Had it stabbed through any of her organs she would have been dead before she had a chance to bleed out or get eaten by low ranking hollows. It brought back the question of did he actually spare her or think she was essentially dead? Her shirt always covered the hole, so it's not like he knew that's where it was. Not to mention the blade had cut through her arm, covering the metal in a layer of blood that could have come from her chest if one didn't know better. It's not like he could feel how deep and where the blade had cut, either. Perhaps it had been an accident, but, then again, maybe not. Maybe he had truly been aiming to kill and left after assuming he had accomplished his goal. She needed to stop deluding herself with the fantasy that he didn't find her completely irritating, and that he may actually consider her a 'friend.' Because, honestly, there was no way another hollow-especially with his personality- would have a friendship of any sorts. Allies, maybe. Not friends, though. That was too human of a term.

 _If I have to remind you one more damn time-_

Aracelis growled as she quickly yanked the blade out of her arm. The smell of fresh blood and the sight of movement caused the surrounding hollows to go silent as they looked to their assumed-dead prey. Before the creatures had the mind to rush at her, she got her legs underneath her, unable to stand fully and ending up hunched over. The sword once again became a support as she stuck it into the ground and forced herself to straighten her back so didn't look as decrepit. The hollows all screeched in a deafening din of commotion as they charged towards her. With the last of her energy, Aracelis opened a garganta, the tear slowly cutting a void through the air. While she waited, she held up a hand. One, half-strength cero blinded the hollows -disintegrating an unfortunate few- long enough for her to slip through the portal.

The trip through the dark void had been equal parts terrifying and arduous. Maintaining a proper path with nearly no spiritual pressure was impossible. That left her with a narrow, crumbling path that threatened to give away and fling her into unending darkness forever- a fate worse than being stuck in Hueco Mundo. She had to drag herself along, her legs giving out occasionally, forcing her to her knees. Upon reaching the end she laughed dryly, almost sending herself into a fit of coughs. Her body felt ready to give out again, her mind already drifting off to unconsciousness.

Once the sky tore open, she took a step out. Immediately she fell. Air whooshed by her ears. She snapped her eyes closed, not wanting to see what she was about to land on. Knowing her luck, it would probably be concrete. However many stories she fell, it made for a difficult landing. A tree broke her fall, the branches snapping as she crashed through, birds squawking as they flew off, disturbed by a plummeting spirit. Eventually she landed with her front side smacking into a branch that held her weight. Now, with the injuries reopened, she didn't have the energy to find a more comfortable position. No, instead she passed out, face pressed onto rough bark, clothes torn and bloody, leaves and twigs caught in tangled hair, and sword still desperately clutched in her hand.

An undetermined amount of time later, she came to with the feeling of bark scraping against her cheek. With a groan, she forced herself up, leaning back against the tree trunk when her head pounded like she was continually being beat over the head with a rock. Her side burned with every breeze that hit the open wound. The only upside at the moment happened to be that her wrist had healed to the point it only hurt if she tried to bend it. She managed to raise her stiff arm to lay the sword across her lap so it did not fall- there was no way she could jump down and retrieve it considering her injuries.

She closed her eyes, a frown etched across her face. She couldn't go back to Hueco Mundo like this. Right now, an Adhucha could probably kill her. Hell, if a Menos Grande caught her in a cero she would be dead, and _that_ was absolutely pathetic. What had happened to her regeneration? Seriously? Of all the times it could just _stop_ working… It's not like she had done anything differently. She hadn't even used it much during the battle. A few small scrapes and one shattered leg were nowhere near what she'd done before. As a damn Adhucha she'd regenerated two legs and a wing in one fight, so why did it not work earlier for lesser wounds?

And how did she use up so much of her spiritual power? She felt like a husk right now, not helped by the thinness of reishi in the world of the living. It was like something drained it out of her. She surely hadn't done it. Even with the bala barrage, the ceros, the regeneration that _had_ worked, and a bit of sonido, it wouldn't have left her weak enough to be mistaken for a gifted human at best. It would take forever for her to recover to full strength, especially if her regeneration didn't kick in. It would take half that time to recover enough to go back to Hueco Mundo.

For once, she wanted to go back. She didn't want to stay in the human world, alone and hiding from soul reapers. If she went back to Hueco Mundo, she could find Ulquiorra. She just… she just wanted to know if he'd meant to kill her, or if he'd spared her, or... She just wanted an explanation because she honestly didn't know what he'd done. The fact she was alive drove her nuts, as strange as that sounded. It would have been easier if he had just killed her. She couldn't figure out if he'd actually hated her the entire time and had been waiting for an opportunity to get rid of her, or if he actually considered her an ally or a friend or anything in a positive light, really. Reading his thoughts was an art form and she was apparently a very poor artist. Hell, she didn't even know what _she_ thought of him other than a hollow she enjoyed spending time with. Like she could figure out mister stoic's thoughts let alone how he _felt_ when she was confused with her own feelings.

She groaned, deciding to drop that tangle of thoughts for the moment. There were more pressing matters, like where she landed. When she opened her eyes and looked around all she could see were the green leaves and brown bark of the trees surrounding her. That could be anywhere; humans apparently liked trees enough to plant them everywhere. That left her with the noises. Birds, mainly. They chattered endlessly, meaning it had to been evening or early morning- she couldn't tell on account of the thick foliage above her. The birds carried on without pause, so there were no predators around even. That was about all she heard. No humans talking, striking the idea it could be a park of some sorts. The metal contraptions they rode around in usually made enough noise that they could be heard from quite a distance. Not hearing them meant that she had landed somewhere without roads. A forest, most likely. It would explain the lack of everything aside from trees.

Her lips pulled to form a bitter smile. Humans didn't live if forests. Spirits didn't usually gather in forests. Soul reapers had no reason to be there, then. "At least they won't bother me," she muttered with a dry laugh that made her chest ache. That also meant she was completely alone, though. It would be her and the little forest creatures until she regained mobility. How boring. At least in a park she could have listened to passing conversations. No, instead she had relative silence which would only worsen as the sun set, most animals bedding down and sleeping. At least there was some ambient noise. She would go crazy in absolute silence, her thoughts the only things to entertain her.

That had been one reason she had sought out a companion. Absolute isolation, she feared it. Dreaded it. Loneliness scared her to death. Sure, she had called it boredom, but being alone with nothing but her meaningless thoughts terrified her to the point of finding _something_ to keep her from them. That something turned out to be someone, and now she had screwed that up. She shouldn't have asked him to fight her; that stupid urge had gone completely awry and ruined it all.

"Actually," she muttered to herself, leaning her head back to look at the leaves above her. Maybe it wasn't ruined forever. As soon as she healed enough to go back, she would go find him. From there, depending on if he had wanted to kill her or not, their strange one-sided relationship could be mended.

 _Are you still considering finding him after this? You really are an idiot, aren't you? Hollows don't keep company. You're lucky to have survived this stunt. Keep to yourself unless you intend to kill what you meet. There's no need for relationships or friendships or whatever other fanciful ideas you have. Power is the only thing that matters and you are absolutely pathetic._

It would be a long few months of recovery with her instincts arguing with her other thoughts. Sure, it was probably a dumb idea to seek out the hollow that nearly killer her, but that didn't matter. Trying to talk to him again was important enough to risk her life for. What else did she have? It's not like hollows did much past eating souls to evolve. Other hollows had noticed it before her. Baraggan had his army. Harribel had her little group. The panther- Grimm-something- had his group. Powerful hollows moved beyond mindless slaughter to form packs and alliances because they had nothing else to do. She'd done the same, but…

 _Unlike you, he understands that it will all inevitably end with who holds the most power. Those groups will fall apart the second one challenges the leader for power. Even when it is only a pair. Hollows are better off being solitary. Forming packs is a dangerous, short-term diversion with no real purpose. He is much smarter than you; he already knew all of this. I shouldn't have to spell it out to you._

Yeah, because she hadn't been aware of that fact beforehand. She knew that once he was powerful enough to kill her, he was a threat. It was damn obvious that would happen, but she did it anyway. So what if her chosen companion would inevitably kill her? She'd already let Ulquiorra nearly kill her. That proved that she would chose death to solitude. And, yet, she had survived perhaps _because_ she had attempted to befriend him, seeing as he possibly spared her. Hell, if he mistakenly thought he had killed her and left simply because he believed her to be dead, it might prove he had come to actually appreciate her bizarre attempts at friendship. More so if he'd ran her through on accident. She had tripped onto the sword, so maybe he had been aiming somewhere less deadly.

 _You are hopeless. Do you_ _ **really**_ _think he let you live of purpose? No, he has a brain- unlike you. He probably thought you were dead because your spiritual power is undetectably low right now. He meant to kill you and you know it. As I said before, your fanciful human delusions of friendship have nothing to do with this. Give up on trying to convince yourself that he cared about you like you did him. Truly, you are an irritatingly dumb hollow with your bizarre fascination and adoption of human eccentricities._

Every word was hissed out in rising volume, making Aracelis squeeze her eyes closed. She needed to shut up with the back and forth before it made her headache worse. It wasn't productive anyway. It did almost make her wonder why her thoughts could be so conflicting that they'd seem to be two individuals quarreling over differences in opinions. At times it seemed like her instincts were someone else entirely and had nothing to do with her.

With a sigh, she dismissed her train of thought, instead moving to stretch out her stiff joints. What a terrible idea that had been. Her immediate reaction was jerking her arm to grab at her side. The wound burned and reopened, warm blood oozing out of it onto her hand to leave it stained when she examined it. If she kept opening it like this, she would be there even longer. Resigning herself to laying uncomfortably still for a few hours, Aracelis closed her eyes to hopefully drift off again.

* * *

Blood dripped onto the ground below him to form a growing stain in the white sand. The spines and thorns of an immense crystal tree surrounded him. He could no longer move. No matter what he tried, the thorns driven beneath his skin prevented him from moving further into the tree or crawling back out. A glance over his shoulder revealed his wings completely torn apart, the remaining shreds useless as they just barely clung to the bone. The rest of his body was covered in gashes that leaked out blood that inevitably dripped to the ground. The tree had been able to piece and tear through his hierro easily. Whatever properties the false plant held were truly bizarre in that regard.

A flicker of movement made him look to the ground. In the sand sat a smooth, bone-like fragment that had not been there before. The tree had even broken his mask, it would seem. He could not tell from where exactly the piece had fallen even when he severely angled his eyes downward. There were no noticeable changes that accompanied the breaking of the mask. His body remained numb to any pain that may have accompanied the various wounds covering him. He could only see, the other senses still lost. Of course there was nothing reflective to see possible changes in. As far as he could see were only the thorn-covered branches of the strange tree.

Not that he minded. It had been his intention to travel deep into the tree after all. He had chosen this. With the energy the tree emitted and the density of the gnarled, massive tree, he could no longer sense anything outside of it. No other hollows' presences could reach him. He was alone. Perhaps he ceased to exist the moment he had been ensnared by the tree. If no one could sense him and he could sense nothing else, then did he exist? Pondering that question would be an option if he found himself conscious for the next eternity, trapped in the branches of his chosen prison.

In truth, he had only a slight notion of why he had decided to crawl into the tree. He had grown tired of Hueco Mundo, more specifically the other hollows. For a time, he simply avoided them all, their mindless, instinct-driven brains holding no interest to him. And then he became curious as to why Aracelis had bothered to seek a companion in a ruthless world of death. Her response of boredom and loneliness… He did not believe the same had affected him, but… Even after she was gone, her irrationality affected him, filling his head with unsolvable riddles of why she had behaved the way she had.

While he did not go to her extremes, he had attempted to communicate with other hollows. Of course, given his inability to speak, the tests had failed before anything of true importance could be uncovered. He could approach other hollows, but, within seconds of the initial encounter, they would attack. A few times he had seen their mouths opening and closing, likely the other hollow attempting to speak but him not hearing or understanding. After that initial attempt to communicate they would attack because he could not answer whatever they had said, likely inquiries to his arrival and motives. He had not come across any hollows he could understand, but that was to be expected. Aracelis, with her partial mask and human face, had been a rarity.

Even then he had occasionally struggled to decipher her words based on her lip movements and gestures. She had had to repeat things quite often, which would frustrate her given her exaggerated eye rolls and forced half-smiles in those moments, but she would repeat what she had said until he understood or simply nodded in agreement. Her apparent patience with him was not returned by other hollows. Of course, given her collection of odd traits, what was one more? She had been a strange hollow in many regards.

He paused in his thoughts, cutting them off there. Anytime she became the focus of his thoughts he ended up thinking in a circle of unanswerable questions that were wholly pointless considering the only one that could possibly answer them had died. He had stabbed her, and then felt as her energy faded away. Following his departure, he had sensed a gathering of hollows move towards her to likely fight over the remains. He could not name what he felt in regards to that, the word 'regret' the closest match. He should have destroyed her body. Those lesser hollows were not worthy of what strength she had had. Instead he had clung to the belief that if he had perhaps not witnessed her body turn to dust than she could still be alive, but that made absolutely no sense and only served to prove that she had negatively affected his judgement.

She no longer existed. She was no longer important. He should simply forget about her. Thinking of her held no purpose, especially when it came to memories of her expressions and personality. Some of her behavioral peculiarities could remain as examples of how a broken-masked hollow may behave, but the rest… The rest needed to be forgotten because they only clouded effective judgement. He entered the tree for the sole purpose of leaving the irrational, futility of Hueco Mundo behind, Aracelis included.

Even if he could tear free from the twisted limbs of the tree, the injuries he had sustained from crawling into it would likely prove deadly. Eventually. Until then, however, he could consider different subjects without interruption or distraction. He could try to figure out what purpose hollows had beyond ending the hunger. And, if there was no purpose, he would either become part of that nothingness or forge his own purpose somehow.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you for reading!**

 **Please, just to let me know what you think, review. I haven't got any feedback for this yet, and I just need to know what is working and what isn't. I always get nervous about OCs being Mary Sues or having canon characters OOC.**

 **So, review, please!**

 **Thank you GloomyMercury98, Nosuri, and kaylabear1 for favoriting and/or following!**


	7. Chapter 7- A Hopeless Search

Months passed. As soon as she recovered enough to return to Hueco Mundo, she did so. Only disappointment met her. She searched and searched, wandering to the far reaches of the desert wasteland. Time passed by unnoticed. The places she visited only half-registered in her mind.

Her search had brought her back to the towering Menos Forest. There were hollows in great numbers, per usual, but, strangely, a single soul reaper as well. As she combed the forest she had crossed paths with the man as he hunted down the Adjuchas that claimed ownership of the forest. He would come after her, but, having found no reason to actually fight him, she would flee. At one point she had stumbled upon the man visiting makeshift graves where his allies surely rested- how he alone remained alive in the forest was a miracle or a testament to his strength. She didn't care to find out how he came to be in Hueco Mundo. No, he didn't matter at all as he was not who she was searching for.

Later yet, she had found an immense lake, the black sky and glowing moon picturesquely reflecting across the still waters. At first she had stood on the shore in wonder, never thinking that Hueco Mundo would have a body of water of any size, let alone what stretched out in front of her as far as she could see. She had leaned down, dipping her finger into the water just to confirm her eyes were not playing tricks on her. Immediately she had retracted her hand. Her flesh had melted away from her fingertip, revealing the bone beneath in the second it had been in the water. An acid lake. The perfect representation of Hueco Mundo; what gave life in the human world was deadly in the land of hollows. A moment after healing the wound, she had turned to leave without a second glance at the lake. He wasn't there either.

Her travels had eventually taken her to a giant crystal tree so dense that she couldn't see an arm's length through the gnarled branches. Curious if anything existed inside, she had attempted to reach out and part the branches. Wicked thorns had torn through her skin, nearly reaching bone if she hadn't paused. For a time she had stood glaring at the spikes driven into her arm, wondering how a tree, of all things, could slice through her so easily. She couldn't sense anything beyond the energy the tree seemed to radiate. After a brief hesitation- she still wondered if anything could be at the center of the mass- she had decided to turn and leave. He wouldn't have done something as stupid as crawl into the tree. No, he would have seen that he would get stuck and that there was no purpose in going further in. Even she realized this, so he would have too. He had to be elsewhere, she reasoned, continuing to walk away.

And, inevitably, she ran out of places to search. No matter where she went, she couldn't find him. That's why she ended up lying down in the middle of the desert, reviewing where she'd been and where she could possibly go to next. Admittedly she had dozed of a few times, while other times she laid with her eyes closed, digging her fingers into the sand to form a decent sized hole next to her, nothing in particular running through her mind. She had no idea how long she had been in the same spot, and didn't really care. Even at half-strength, she was still stronger than most hollows wandering about. Obviously she felt safe if she could fall asleep. Not that many hollows seemed to frequent the area. Right now, for instance, none-

Aracelis shot up, clumsily stumbling to her feet as she grabbed for her sword. As she whipped around, she could hear laughter; one muted, two incredibly obnoxious, all feminine. She rolled her eyes, dropping her arm to her side now that she recognized the spiritual pressures.

"She didn't even sense us approach," the deer-like hollow cackled. "She's an idiot!"

"You were the one scared she would attack us, Apacci." The lion-like hollow with a golden mask commented off-handedly, but made sure that the other heard. "You were whining the entire time about going to meet her."

"As were you, Mila-Rose." The snake-hollow quietly joined in, violet eyes looking the opposite direction like she wasn't insulting them. "If you ask me, you were both equally-"

"Just shut it, Sung-Sun," Apacci complained, cutting the other off and earning a slight glare.

And so the bickering began. Aracelis sighed, shaking her head slightly at the sight of the hollows as they flung insults at each other. The few times she'd met them, they'd done the exact same thing. It was a wonder how Harribel put up with the boisterous, noisy bunch when she herself was relatively reserved and quiet. Speaking of her, Harribel stood back from the other three, watching them as they shouted. Compared to the Adjuchas she was with, she appeared quite small, her form almost human with her blue eyes, bright blonde hair, and the visible patch of olive skin around her eyes. It was only the white plating and pale blue skin that set her apart from a human. And, well, her spiritual pressure certainly belonged to a powerful hollow. That was obvious though. Overall, it was just strange to see another human-like hollow, which always made Aracelis feel something akin to belonging, as odd as that was.

As the bickering began to taper off, Aracelis decided to greet the group. "Harribel," she said with a slight nod before glancing at the other hollows. "Others," she mumbled in mock displeasure, almost smiling when the three all sent a glare her way in response. "Any reason for the sudden visit? Just in the area or what?"

Harribel stayed quiet, her eyes seemingly examining Aracelis for a moment. "We had been nearby," she answered. Aracelis expected her to stop there, but she continued with, "I had not sensed your presence for some time."

"I was in the human world," Aracelis quickly said, stopping Harribel there. Or at least she hoped. She wasn't keen on explaining _why_ she'd been there for so long. No one else needed to know about that ever. The entire affair was ridiculous and pathetic by hollow standards. She would keep it to herself if possible.

"Pff," Appaci scoffed before stomping a foot down. "You were hurt, and we know you were. We're not idiots like you that can't sense spiritual pressure worth a crap."

"Whoever you were fighting had been quite powerful," Sung-Sun added, her voice somewhat muffled as she hide her face behind her tail. "More so than you, clearly."

"You must have been torn up good if it took that long to heal." Mila-Rose paused before giving a sharp-toothed grin. "I'm surprised you even lived, as weak as you are."

"Fine," Aracelis huffed while throwing her hands up. They would go on like this for hours if she didn't talk. What an annoyingly effective interrogation tactic they had. "I had been injured and stayed there to recover. So what? Is that weird or something? Hollows fight all the damn time!" She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring as the deer and lion laughed at her outburst. "I just needed some time to heal. I wasn't hiding or anything," she muttered under her breath.

"Defensive, aren't you?" Sung-Sun snickered, barely heard above the other two.

"Aracelis." At the sound of Harribel's voice, the three Adjuchas fell silent. Harribel took a few steps forward, standing in line with her group, eyes focused on Aracelis. "You had been fighting with your ally, correct?" Instead of sounding accusatory, her words came out rather gently.

"Y-yeah," Aracelis stuttered, shifting her gaze to the sand. Of course Harribel would have figured that out. Not that it had been some well-kept secret. Anyone able to sense spiritual pressures with any degree of accuracy could tell that she had been near Ulquiorra quite often, thusly making them allies or some variant of the word. Otherwise they would have killed each other the first time they met.

Aracelis glanced upwards in time to see Harribel nod once, saying "I understand." For a few seconds, silence hung in the air. Surprisingly Harribel decided to break the quiet. "You may still join us, if you wish. Working in a group is better than working alone, after all."

The only reason she'd been able to finish her statement was her offer had shocked her three followers into a brief silence. Apacci's head had jerked to the side so she could stare at Harribel in question. When no one else decided to fill the suddenly tense silence, she decided to spout out, "Really? Why? She's just-!" Words failed the deer-like hollow as she tried to explain just how opposed to the idea she was. "We don't even know her!" she settled upon.

"We didn't know you, either, Apacci," Mila-Rose said. The disgust in her tone had been aimed at Aracelis if the strong, green-eyed glare was anything to go by. "And if Harribel says she can join our group, then she can," she added begrudgingly.

 _If you even consider joining them, I swear…_ Aracelis inwardly sighed the second her instinct began its tirade against groups. Not that she needed the lecture. For once she agreed.

"Before you three get even more upset," Aracelis began, talking over the now heated debate the three Adjuchas were having, "I'll have to say no. You don't need to worry your small brains."

Before the three hollows' ire at the insult could become verbal, Harribel nodded, turning to leave. The three hesitated a second before falling into line with their leader. She paused after a few steps, glancing over her shoulder to say, "My offer still stands. Should you change your mind, seek us out. You would be welcomed among us, Aracelis."

"Yeah," Aracelis mumbled, watching as Harribel continued on, the other three at her side. For a second she hesitated as she stared at their backs. They could help, maybe. They'd been in Hueco Mundo the entire time she had been in the world of the living. They might know something, which would be more than she knew currently.

"Hey," Aracelis called out, her voice laced with uncertainty. While she cursed her own wavering voice, the group came to a stop once more, each looking over their shoulders to see what Aracelis wanted. Not wanting to meet their stares, she looked to the ground, tapping her fingers against her arms in a nervous fidget. "You… You haven't seen a white bat hollow with green eyes around lately, have you? I can't seem to find him." She barely managed to speak loud enough to be heard, although the mumbling may have made her words unintelligible anyway.

Following a brief pause, she heard the snickering begin as the trio prepared to tease her again. It's why she'd been hesitant to ask- she must have sounded pathetically desperate and lonely. And weak, at least to her own standards. The group of female hollows saw the practicality of working in a group, but Aracelis's instincts always berated her for being reliant on others, even if it was just for company and not protection.

"No," Harribel answered, cutting off her companions' giggles. Once again, there was no harshness in her voice, just understanding. Aracelis both loved and hated that sympathetic tone. A hollow shouldn't show sympathy nor crave it. Perhaps it showed how evolution had changed them, how they regained some of that humanity they had lost in death and transformation into a hollow.

"I haven't sensed him for some time now," Harribel added, already assuming that Aracelis wanted to find the very hollow that had nearly killed her. "But, I also do not remember him dying in battle. He may simply be far away or hidden."

"Yeah," Aracelis muttered, knowing that probably wasn't the case. She had searched what had to be Hueco Mundo in its entirety without finding a single trace of Ulquiorra. And he wouldn't hide. He had no reason to. It was at least somewhat of a relief to hear that he had not died in a battle; although she doubted he could be defeated by any run-of-the-mill hollow anyways. One of Baraggan's court or the supposed king himself would probably be the only ones that could kill him- she doubted even Harribel could handle him.

"See you around," Aracelis mumbled as she turned around, walking the opposite direction of the group. She heard them resume walking as well. As soon as their spiritual pressure faded with the distance between them, Aracelis let herself drop down, legs folding so she could sit on the ground.

She was alone again. Joining up with Harribel's group would have fixed that, but, given how it would likely end… It was better to leave them be. It's not like she had a real problem with the women themselves; sure, Apacci and Mila-Rose were loud and Sung-Sun quite smug, but they weren't the most annoying things out there, surprisingly. Harribel seemed a good leader, very level-headed and observant, preferring to keep out of conflict rather than raise it.

The problem came with Harribel's moral code- an odd thing for a hollow to keep. She didn't want to gain power by devouring others. Her words had been more along the lines of not wishing to sacrifice others for her own gain, that what she could not do alone could be accomplished in a group. Aracelis understood the concept, but… She needed to eat other hollows. Even after becoming a Vasto Lorde she still craved the flesh and power of other hollows, more so after needing to recover from injuries, like she still was. The hunger had been so bad when she had been in the human world that she'd actually resorted to moving from the forest where she had initially landed to a city solely for the fact other hollows would show up and she could make a meal out of them. If she tried to stick around with Harribel, she'd either have to stop or risk pissing her off.

Harribel was still stronger than Aracelis. Her broken mask made sure of it. Without her original powers that she had before breaking the mask, Aracelis couldn't win a fight against other Vasto Lorde. Not unless they were absolutely pathetic. If Harribel really wanted to, she could easily rip Aracelis apart. Even if the three Adjuchas ganged up on Aracelis- at least while she was still recovering- they could probably defeat her. For once she wholly agreed with her instincts that joining up with the group of females was a horrendously terrible idea. She couldn't see it ending well.

But, what else did she have to do? Honestly, she was out of ideas. In the span of time she had searched for Ulquiorra, she hadn't sensed even a faint trace of his spiritual pressure. He was gone. As simple as that. On the incredible off-chance she had miraculously missed him at every point in her search, it was obvious something had happened to him and he was likely dead, as disappointing as that was. Actually, the emotion was a bit more than merely _disappointed_. She was… sad? Was that it? Sadness? A hollow shouldn't feel sad about anything, let alone death when they are death incarnate. She couldn't think of what else to call the emotion, though. Sure, mixed into that melancholy, she felt upset over the fact he was dead. She didn't want to believe that to the point she was prepared to come up with so many irrational scenarios with zero chances of being true. No, she would rather fall into denial and hope than face the truth of the situation.

Or maybe she was angry with herself because she had to debate such a ridiculous thing as _sadness_ with herself rather than moving on like a regular hollow. Actually, it was ridiculous that she ended up in this situation to begin with. Loneliness wasn't something a hollow should feel either, but her damn feelings lead to this point where she had to debate why she felt the way she did over another hollow's death.

Her thoughts could spin around like this forever. But, again, what else did she have to do? She had nothing else to occupy herself with. It's not like she had recovered enough to go pick fights with hollows that _might_ entertain her- she had to stick to the safe, weak, boring ones. She had been assumedly everywhere in Hueco Mundo. On top of that Ulquiorra had been the only reason she had come back to the hollow world. Finding another companion seemed like a bad idea considering how well it'd turned out the last time, as well as tiring because Aracelis would rather not go through the emotions all over again with how she was dealing with them now. No matter what she did, she was doing it alone like she had before she had decided to find company.

She could just fall back on her original interest: humans. At the moment she had nothing else. Humans were still interesting, with their weird customs and behaviors. Maybe if she watched them long enough she could sort out her emotions because humans clearly had a bit more experience with them. And, seeing as how she still wasn't one hundred percent recovered –spiritual energy wise, anyway- the human world remained a tiny bit safer. She could hunt area hollows while there, like she had been doing before returning to Hueco Mundo.

Aracelis stood up, brushing some of the sand from her legs before straightening her back. She'd made her decision. If even for only a little while, she would go back to the human world and hope she found something to keep her from her thoughts. In one practiced movement, she tore open a Garganta, the black void her pathway to distraction. She walked through, once more leaving the white sands of Hueco Mundo behind for the colorful World of the Living.

* * *

 **A/N- The guy in the Menos Forest, I believe, is just a character from filler episode in the anime, but I liked the idea of a lone soul reaper being trapped in Hueco Mundo, killing hollows, so I decided just to mention him as curiosity. And the lake, to my knowledge, is something that I completely made up for the sake of describing another location of interest in Hueco Mundo. As for the tree… Poor Aracelis was wrong about Ulquiorra not being there.**

 **Aracelis actually interacted with other hollows for once. I've mentioned that Aracelis had known Harribel, but it was nice to show them interacting instead of passively mentioning her. I think that Harribel would have wanted other women to join her little group, Aracelis included, just because she wants a group rather than killing for power- that's why she has Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun. I hope everyone enjoyed Harribel and her future fraccion making an appearance.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to Aku Tora, AmandAlsxox, Mari Clair Roemajji Celts for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Special thanks to Mari Clair Roemajji Celts and Krystalana for reviewing!**

 **Krystalana- I'm glad you think that Ulquiorra has been in character and Aracelis not being a Mary Sue (these are just things that make me nervous, especially at the beginning of stories). And your English was great, no need to apologize (I can only speak English, so I'm always amazed by people who know multiple languages). Thank you so much for reviewing!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Just thank you again for all the encouragement! I really needed that because I just get sort of nervous at the beginning of stories. Knowing that people like it and are reading helps keep me motivated!**

 **-AwkwardBlackCat**


	8. Chapter 8- Omen

The tree broke apart, its branches shattering as a powerful spiritual pressure crushed it. For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, he saw the light of the moon overhead reflecting off the rust-toned sand that had been soaked in his blood over time he spent ensnared in the tree. The thorns driven beneath his skin, despite them almost being part of his body with how long they stabbed there, disintegrated into ash. Without the support of the tree, he fell to his knees.

While his major wounds automatically closed, for the briefest of seconds he felt it. A burning, stinging sensation that accompanied every wound the tree had inflicted. Pain. Something he had not felt in a long time. After the wounds closed, he could feel the cold sand under his hand. When he glanced down he noticed the lack of claws. Instead his hand appeared quite human in shape despite being ghastly pale and the black nails. And, laying in the sand next to his hand, was a pale green hilted sword held in a similarly colored sheath. He reached for the sword, already assuming it belonged to him despite only glancing at it for less than a second. The tree had in fact cracked his mask judging from what he could see.

The sound of footsteps forced his attention away from the change. Walking towards him… He narrowed his eyes in both a primal anger and slight confusion. Two soul reapers, one with brown hair and glasses, his expression mostly neutral, his eyes showing what appeared to be amusement. The other had white hair and a disturbingly wide grin. It was the brown-haired soul reaper's spiritual pressure that had destroyed the tree, as well as the stronger of the two.

"What do ya know, there _was_ something in there," the white-haired soul reaper commented, breaking the silence with his strangely cheerful tone. It only added to the tension.

"What," Ulquiorra began, voice rough from disuse, the feeling of speaking almost completely foreign, "purpose do soul reapers have in being here?" He forced himself to his feet, jaw clenched tight as he fought against falling over. The last time he stood on his own, or his muscles actually felt the strain of bearing weight… The sensory overload was beginning to bother even him. With every movement he became simultaneously aware of each muscle that moved, what damage the tree had done that was in the process of healing, the way the air and sand shifted beneath him. Everything. He found it distracting because his focus should solely be on the pair of soul reapers standing before him rather than such insignificant things.

The silence fell again as the soul reapers, particularly the brown-haired one, seemingly analyzed him. During this time, despite himself, he reached for his face just to confirm the mask was gone. Smooth skin made him drop his hand back to his side. The tree had shattered it. From what he could tell, the majority of his mask was gone, leaving only a section over the left side of his head. The broken mask made him weaker than he had been previously, if he considered his past knowledge. Contradictory to that, though, his spirit energy felt stronger than it had been before entering the tree. Perhaps he had stolen part of the tree's power instead of becoming part of the tree itself, as the other hollows entangled had been. The matter of his retuning senses became the deciding factor as to why he felt so disadvantaged in that moment.

Fighting the soul reapers wouldn't be an option, nor would escaping. He would fight if necessary, then. With their spiritual pressure, it was doubtful he could escape death by their blades no matter if he fought or attempted to flee, anyway. Judging by the energy radiating off of them they were captain-level soul reapers. The one had disintegrated the tree with spiritual pressure alone.

"What is your name, hollow?" the brown-haired man asked, completely ignoring Ulquiorra's question in order to ask something so trivial. Now was not the time to be making small talk.

Ulquiorra stood still, his eyes never leaving the soul reapers as he tried to figure out their purpose now that they made it apparent they wouldn't answer him outright. If they'd meant to kill him, they would not be asking something as ridiculous as his name. No, they would not have hesitated in cutting him down before he had found the strength to stand. Perhaps information, then? What sort of information they needed from a hollow remained a mystery given the terms soul reapers and hollows were on.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, giving in. "Ulquiorra Cifer." He would humor them for the moment, if only to find out why they were there.

"Well, Ulquiorra," the brown-haired soul reaper said, his tone sounding as though they were friends rather than mortal enemies. "May I ask how you became trapped in that tree?"

Another pointless question. "I simply was. There is no reason beyond that." And no purpose in explaining it to them, either.

"Aw, you don't seem happy about being saved. I thought you would've been a bit more grateful," the white-haired man cut in with mock disappointment. "Unless you were there on purpose," he added, eyes opening just enough to show off his red irises.

"I did not need to be saved, nor did I have a purpose." The irritation towards the soul reapers' inaction and pointless questioning had worsened. He turned around, no longer caring if they attacked him. "This conversation is pointless. If it is your intention to kill me, than do so already." As he took a single step forward, he noticed some of the tree had begun to reform from the residual energy left behind. Perhaps it fed off of the reishi in the air, like the smaller hollows, allowing it to grow to such an enormous size over centuries of drawing energy in, as well as absorbing those it ensnared. If the soul reapers chose not to kill him, he would consider returning to the tree once it had reformed.

"Are you searching for a purpose?" The brown-haired soul reaper asked.

Ulquiorra ceased walking, his eyes focused on the sand at his feet. He remained quiet, waiting to hear what the soul reaper had to say now that he had drawn his attention.

"My name is Sosuke Aizen. I came to Hueco Mundo to form an army of hollows to wage war against the Soul Society."

He glanced over his shoulder upon hearing the odd goal. A defector soul reaper, then? Two captains, no less. It was a curious matter, although he did not choose to comment on it at the moment. It was of little consequence considering he would accept any sort of purpose right now because, at the moment, he had nothing. Nowhere to go. No goals. He would not mind fighting against the Soul Society if just to show them hollows were superior. Clearly the soul reaper had reached the same conclusion if he planned on forming a hollow army rather than staging an internal coup within the Soul Society itself.

"If you were to join my cause, you would have a purpose. Moreover, you would gain power beyond what you are capable of currently."

"I am a Vasto Lorde. I doubt I can become more powerful." That is why he had nothing else to do. He had fulfilled a hollow's goal to evolve. He had essentially sated the hunger that had drove him to seek evolution. There was nothing. "I have reached the pinnacle of evolution. There is nothing beyond this," he stated as he returned his gaze to the tree in front of him, more talking to himself than the soul reapers. Breaking his mask had had an opposite effect of what he expected. He had gained strength, but he could see no further evolution being possible.

"As it stands, you are an Arrancar- a hollow that has torn away its mask in search of abilities closer to a soul reaper's," the brown-haired soul reaper, Aizen, explained, correcting him that he was an Arrancar and no longer just a regular Vasto Lorde. "Natural Arrancar are imperfect. If you choose to follow me, I will instill you with the powers of a true Arrancar."

"And should I refu-" Ulquiorra began only to be cut off by the white-haired soul reaper.

"Then we kill ya, of course."

He expected as much. From the beginning the two had flaunted their spiritual pressure instead of verbally threatening him with the option of join or die. It was a familiar tactic. Those with power controlled the weak, if not through fear, then by respect and admiration. While the fear of death did not really infect him, he could respect their power. He understood that going against them would lead to death. That fighting such a powerful enemy could only lead to death. It would be pointless, foolish, even, for him to choose to defy them.

He blinked once, staying silent for a moment before he made his decision- not that he had much choice in the matter. With one last look at the reforming tree, he turned around, facing the two soul reapers that already seemed to know his answer.

"Very well, Lord Aizen."

* * *

The shriek cut through the morning air. Aracelis grumbled under her breath before jumping out of the tree she had been sleeping in, standing in the sky to look down to the source of the early morning commotion. Below, running down one of the brick pathways of the park, the girl came, her screams drowned out by the thing chasing her. The child turned a corner, the broken chain on her chest catching the morning sun to glare it into Aracelis's eyes.

As the chase continued, Aracelis sighed heavily. Honestly, this was getting old. Over the last week or so, hollows went after the girl's spirit like it was something precious. They followed her around, stalking her from the shadows. The local soul reaper must have been an idiot because they continually failed to do anything about it. Aracelis had taken advantage of the situation, of course. She'd trailed after the girl just because the spirit attracted so many hollows to her. While the child herself wouldn't make a worthwhile meal, some of the hollows after her did. Surprisingly so, actually. Some were nearly Adjuchas. But, now that Aracelis was nearly healed, she had no need for the other hollows no matter their strength. They were simply becoming annoying little interruptions to her human watching and lazing about. By default, the spirit's presence was becoming more and more irritating with every pathetic hollow that chased after her. If the soul reaper wouldn't do anything about the nuisance, she would.

The lizard-like hollow cornered the girl, crying out in glee before flicking its tongue out to wrap around the girl. In a fraction of a second, its still moving tongue fell to the ground, dropping the girl and spurting blood out. The creature howled in pain before charging, mouth gapping to show off sharpened teeth and stub of a tongue. Aracelis didn't move. The hollow may as well have been moving in slow motion to her. As soon as it attempted to snap its mouth around her neck, she gripped the bottom of its jaw, slamming it into the ground with such force the paved walkway split apart, the monster's bones making a sickening crunch before the entire creature faded from existence.

Weak. Absolutely weak. Aracelis rolled her eyes, holding back a sigh. That one wouldn't have even been worth eating. _It was not worth our time._ Aracelis laughed once, agreeing with her instinct completely for once.

"Th-th-thank," a high, hesitant voice stuttered behind Aracelis.

Before the girl could finish another screech rang out to interrupt her. Aracelis nearly let off a cero just because she sensed another hollow emerge from a garganta, it already moving her direction.

"Honestly, this just keeps getting more annoying with every passing second," Aracelis muttered, shaking her head a few times.

Light footsteps forced attention back to the spirit behind her. Aracelis glanced over her shoulder to take a look at the spirit she had only seen from a distance until this point. Upon closer inspection, the girl had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and wore a plain t-shirt paired with jean shorts. The girl was young, but that was about all she could tell. She was never one that could guess ages. That skill was irrelevant in Hueco Mundo, after all. Aracelis couldn't see any sort of mortal injuries outwardly, so she assumed the girl had perhaps died of disease.

"Thank you for saving me from that monster," the girl near whispered.

"Kid, you've got the wrong impression. I killed that thing because it annoyed me." At this point Aracelis turned around to face the girl. Judging by the girl's widened eyes, she caught sight of the partial mask over the left side of Aracelis's face. Finding the fear amusing, Aracelis also pulled back the collar of her shirt to show off the hollow hole, being sure the spirit understood exactly what she was. "I'm one of those things."

The girl shrieked before backing away only to trip over her own feet. Her lips quivered as she continued to scoot away, almost too scared to move.

"Not that I plan on eating a weak soul like you." Aracelis shrugged before waving her hand dismissively. "I'm way past that, kid." Before the girl came to her senses and ran, Aracelis used her pesquisa to locate the half-wit soul reaper. They were maybe a few miles away, so relatively close- how they didn't show up to kill the earlier hollow showed how lazy they truly were. It would only take a few seconds to reach them if she carried the girl there. After all, what fun was there to be had in removing the spirit herself? No, she would rather rub the fact that she, a hollow, was currently better than a soul reaper at saving souls would be much more entertaining. "Actually, I'm going to help you."

"H-help me?" Her head tilted to the side, probably questioning why the 'monster' wanted to help her while the others had wanted to eat her.

Aracelis nodded, taking a few steps closer to the girl as she picked herself off of the ground.

"How?"

"How?" Aracelis repeated, taken off guard. She forgot that humans were unaware of soul reapers just as much as they were of hollows. "I'm going to take you to a soul reaper so they can help you move on to the afterlife."

"But I'm scared of the afterlife." She crossed her arms over her chest, stomping a foot down. Her apparent fear of Aracelis faded away just as quickly as it had appeared. "I want to stay here," she said defiantly. "Just make the other monsters stop attacking me."

"Kid, that's not how this works at all." Aracelis gave an exasperated look at the girl. Did she really need to bother explaining this to a belligerent spirit? Obviously, no, but what else was there to do? In order to bother the soul reaper, she needed the kid, and dragging around a screaming child sounded worse than taking a few seconds to explain a thing or two. Or just scare her into coming. Yes, scaring her sounded much more effective.

"Trust me, kid, you want to go the Soul Society, the afterlife, whatever you want to call it. Apparently it's really nice. But," Aracelis held up her hand and pointed her finger into the girls face. "If you really want to stay here, you can. Now, if you do that, you'll probably get eaten by a hollow –those monsters. Or, even worse, you'll become one of them."

"I'll become one?" the girl squeaked, hand flying over her mouth.

"Oh, yes. Then you'll be the one running around chasing after innocent souls." Aracelis fought back a smile as the girl stared at her fixedly. "And then you'll probably get eaten by another hollow. Little kids like you don't last long, trust me. I've seen little hollows torn apart more times than I can count. So," Aracelis said, rocking back on her heels as she stared down at the wide-eyed girl. "Do you still want to stick around here, or would you rather I take you to someone that can help you?"

"I'll come with!"

Aracelis cracked a smile as she crouched down, deciding that carrying the girl by the waist would be the best way to transport her. The girl squeaked in response, wiggling about just enough to be annoying.

"Squirm around like that and I'll drop you," Aracelis grumbled without giving the girl enough time to even process the warning as she jumped into the air. The girl, of course, screamed with the sudden height, but eventually fell silent. Or at least Aracelis thought she did. She wasn't exactly paying attention to the spirit anymore.

It was something she had said earlier. It made her remember something she didn't usually think about, but, all the same, it was something odd. When she'd mentioned a human becoming a hollow, the image flickered back into her mind, clearer than something as ancient as that should be.

The memory lasted only a few seconds. Brief, but rather perplexing with what had happened. She could see a human woman lying on the ground, skin burnt and blistered while her muscles twitched and stiffened uncontrollably. Alive, but barely. And then the image became lost in the light of a lighting strike, the last glimpses zooming in on the human before the memory ended.

She knew it had been her as a human. No doubt about it. Same dark skin, height, and relative build –admittedly she was more muscular now, but that was hardly much of a difference. Her hair was even the same length, though be it the human version had dark brown colored hair opposed to the blue she had now. Still, the human had to have been her. It was just the whole third-person view that threw her for a loop. For those brief few seconds, while the human was still technically alive, she had a prime view of how she'd died like she was someone watching it all happen from a vantage point above her.

After that one, out-of-place memory, she could only remember fuzzy moments as a lesser hollow, namely chasing after non-descript spirits. Eventually, though, the memories became recent enough that she remembered them clearly. Like eating soul reapers, being an Adjucha. All of that stuff.

Not that thinking about all of this helped. She had no explanation for it. She wasn't about to ask another hollow if it was normal. Well, she already knew it was far from normal. With her extended stay in the human world she'd seen a human die and turn into a spirit, and, later, a hollow. The human would die, the spirit would be chained to the body for bit, watching as any hope of survival slipped away. The chain would break, then they would wander around. Eventually a few became hollows. Normal. Not the order of human dying, seeing human-self dying while the spirit's still inside body, spirit looking at corpse with chain intact, chain breaking, becoming a hollow. That extra step made it abnormal.

Another screech followed by a shriek pulled her from her thoughts.

"Don't scream like that," she complained, frowning at the spirit quivering at her side. When she didn't get a response, she rolled her eyes and glanced off to the side. While it was still too far away to see, she could feel the other hollow approaching. It had been stronger than the last few she'd killed, but still pathetic when compared to her. Honestly, she could probably fight it while taking a nap.

"We're almost there," Aracelis added after a pause. The soul reaper, despite their apparent laziness, had finally decided to investigate and was running to meet them judging by their ever-nearing spiritual pressure.

As the soul reaper came into sight, Aracelis plummeted downwards, pavement shattering as her feet met the ground. The soul reaper stared at her, giving the usual 'why is this hollow's mask broken?' look. It was a young man, his dirty blond hair pulled out of his eyes. Rather scrawny and lean too. He'd probably have died if he'd taken on that lizard hollow earlier. Cowardice must have been making him afraid to do his damn job. Soul reapers... Always useless cowards. Before he could open his mouth Aracelis sat the girl down for a second. Then she grabbed her by the back of her shirt and launched her at the soul reaper, the spirit screaming. He miraculously caught her and stayed on his feet despite his knees buckling.

"Take that!" she hissed, turning around, eyebrow twitching. Of course it ruined her fun. Instead of teasing the soul reaper, she got to fight an aggravating hollow that wasn't worth her time.

Across from her, the hollow landed in much the same manner as she had. The hulking bear-faced hollow growled as its red glowing eyes glared at her from beneath its mask. The creature took a step forward, the sun reflecting on the saliva-covered fangs of its mouth. It let out an ear shattering roar. While Aracelis stood unimpressed, she heard the kid outright scream while the soul reaper muttered something about not being qualified to fight such strong hollows alone.

While it had been stronger than the last few she'd seen, it wasn't really much of a threat. Just annoying. And odd. Its spiritual pressure showed it was an above average strength Adjuchas. Why one as strong as that would be pissing around the human world was weird. With all of the snarling she took it wasn't there to human watch.

"You are the one that killed my underlings," it hissed out, snapping its teeth together. "You Arrancar think you're so powerful." It opened its mouth wide, red energy gathering in front of it. "Allow me to show you true power!"

Before Aracelis had a chance to ask what an Arrancar even was, the red beam fired in a blare of noise. She stepped forward with an arm outreached. The blast of energy collided with her hand, stopping like it'd hit a wall. A wall that was very surprised to find her feet sliding back a fraction. She swung her arm to the side to divert the blast.

As the glaring red faded the beast charged forward. Aracelis used sonido to jump upwards, avoiding the gaping maw with time to spare. While the hollow held physical bulk and a nasty cero to its advantage, it remained as slow as a regular hollow. The bear skidded to a halt to look upwards, sensing that that was where its prey had gone.

Aracelis nearly sent off a cero of her own. The only reason she didn't happened to be that she wanted information. "What did you-"

Her words were cut off as the bear launched itself into the air with every intention of snapping at her again. She figured as much. Hollows like this didn't bother with words. That's why they struck a particular nerve with her, and, if she wasn't angry enough already, the last shred of her patience and self-control disappeared.

Before the hollow could register her movement she brought down a heel into its face. It crashed into the ground, the pavement shattering to send shards into the air. Soil flew up as it made a decent sized crater. For a second the bear remained still, the pain of the cracked mask and split face preventing it from moving. Some of its body began to disintegrate.

"Defeated by an Arrancar," the hollow muttered in distain. "You are weak to bow down to that soul reaper. How pathetic. You can't call yourself a hollow."

Aracelis landed on the ground to the side of the crater. "What the hell are you on about?" The thing just kept spouting off nonsense. Nonsense that intrigued her.

It began chuckling, that serving as its response. A second later the rest of the creature disappeared, deader than dead.

Aracelis snarled, holding her hand in front of and blasting a cero into the crater. Dust filled the air, covering her in clumps of dirt. She threw her hands to the side to clench her fists as tightly as her jaw. So many damned questions. What the hell was it talking about? Arrancar? What did that even mean? And bowing down to a soul reaper? No way did she do that. What the hell was going on in Hueco Mundo that an Adjucha had to flee to the land of the living? Not only that, the bear mentioned its underlings had come with it as well. To force out a group of hollows with that level of power… Something big must have happened in her absence.

"Thank you!"

The cheerful chirp caused Aracelis to glance over her shoulder. The girl was waving at her, smiling. She stood next to a very perplexed soul reaper who held his sword awkwardly at his side. Aracelis had already forgotten about them. While before they had been for entertainment, they now distracted her from her current interest: going back to Hueco Mundo.

"Yeah, whatever. Soul reaper, do your weird little soul…" she paused, the word escaping her for a moment. "Soul burial, konso thing already. I can't do all of your job for you."

She nearly sighed when the soul reaper actually did as suggested. He raised his sword, turning it around to use it to put the girl's soul at peace. Aracelis turned away, uninterested in the theatrics of soul reapers, raising her hand to tear open a garganta.

"Hey," the soul reaper shouted, making Aracelis drop her arm back to her side before turning to glare at him. "I-I," he stuttered, still clearly scared. It was surprising he had the gall to speak up at all. "I just want to know why you didn't eat that soul."

"Really?" Aracelis rolled her eyes at him. She turned around again, opening a garganta. Before stepping through, she looked back over her shoulder. "A weak soul like that wasn't worth eating. I only brought her to you because I was bored and thought it'd piss you off. You're a really bad soul reaper, you know? Probably should work on that because it seems like a bunch of hollows might have fled from Hueco Mundo."

Without waiting for any response from him, she walked into the darkened void of the garganta.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you all for reading! I was sort of stumped on how to write Aizen 'recruiting' Ulquiorra, but I think it worked out okay-ish. As for when this happened, I'm just going to say it was about the time he 'saved' Harribel and her group from the Arrancar he had made. So… yeah. A lot of this was set-up for the next chapters.**

 **(And sorry for all of the weird capitalizations and occasional spelling errors in the last chapters and this one. I just don't know what to do with the different terms like Arrancar and I spelled Adjuchas like its said (h instead of j) I'll try to fix that in later chapters, and then go back and fix the previous chapters when I have time.)**

 **Thank you ChaosDemon1129, yukikinns, TriggerShotX, ApocalypticSquirrel, and haipa-chan for following and favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- Thank you for reviewing! I know, Aracelis is a bit dense- but, hey, Ulquiorra kind of did something strangely irrational like crawling into the tree, so she didn't think to stay. I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying this being mainly about their pasts, because the majority of it will be before the Winter War and bit after (like the prologue). Thank you again and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!**


	9. Chapter 9- Las Noches

Aracelis landed on the white sands of Hueco Mundo. Within seconds she could sense why the Adjucha had fled. Why other hollows would flee. Why _she_ wanted to flee. Since the last time she returned… just… wow. She shifted her wait, fidgeting as she used pesquisa once more just to be sure she hadn't made some sort of mistake. She sadly hadn't.

Compared to when she had last been in Hueco Mundo, there were dozens of hollows with immense spiritual pressures. And, bizarrely, she felt the presence of three soul reapers as well. Not just regular soul reapers, either. High ranking ones if judging their spiritual pressures.

Hollows. Soul reapers. They were gathered together in one place. If she remembered the location's direction correctly, they had congregated in Las Noches. Why Barragan would allow soul reapers the use of his palace… she couldn't comprehend it. And, with him in mind, she picked out his spiritual pressure despite how… how different it had become. How much stronger he had become. While he remained powerful, she also sensed hollows stronger than the supposed King of Hueco Mundo. And, stronger yet, the soul reapers.

It was just… Mind-boggling. Insane. Unbelievable. Just what the hell had happened while she was away? Right now… right now she felt absolutely weak. Even over the great distance, she could tell she didn't stand a chance against any of the spiritual pressures she could feel in Las Noches.

A familiar fear took over. One that hadn't been there since she became a Vasto Lorde. She had to leave. If any of them came after her she'd be dead in seconds. Every part of her seemed to scream 'run and hide' but her muscles froze in place with paralyzing fear.

And then two spiritual pressures rocketed towards her.

Blind panic took over as she turned to run. She stumbled after a few steps, falling into the sand. Her entire body shook. Her knees felt weak. Her brain could only scream 'run' at her. After scrambling to her feet, she raised a shaking hand. A garganta. That's what she needed. But she'd wasted too much time stumbling around like an idiot.

They had arrived.

Spiritual pressure crushed down on her, slamming her back to her knees as her body quaked with pain and fear. Her hand dropped down. There was no escaping now. Despite the stiffness in her entire body, she managed to force her neck to turn so she could at least see them.

Soul reapers. Despite them wearing white instead of black, the lack of a mask and their spiritual pressure revealed them as soul reapers. The stronger of the two stopped a few steps in front of the other, brown-hair pushed out of his face as he stared down at her with an expression she couldn't figure out with her brain malfunctioning over the spiritual pressure induced fear. The other had purple tinged hair, his eyes hidden by some sort of glasses-like object while his overall expression remained relatively blank.

She flared her own spiritual pressure in hopes she could at least get herself to her feet to face death with some dignity. To her surprise, the pressure keeping her pinned to the ground lessened enough that she could stand and turn around, even if her body continued to shake uncontrollably. Not that she lessened hers any; she would fight back if they let her. With a shaking hand she reached for the hilt of her sword to rest it there.

As her fingers met the hilt, the purple haired reaper reached for his blade and prepared to step forward. Before either could fully draw the brown-haired man held up a hand.

"Kaname," he said, the other man immediately –albeit reluctantly- sheathing his sword.

Something about his voice made Aracelis want to cringe. Combined with how the brown-haired soul reaper carried himself, he put on the air that he knew exactly everything and nothing less. She hated arrogance, especially in soul reapers. Not that she would attack him first. She may have her moments of stupidity, but she knew better than to attack someone when they appeared to be intent of talking. Rambling enemies meant a possibility of escape.

The brown-haired soul reaper returned his full attention to Aracelis, her skin crawling as he seemed to analyze her. Her hand twitched to pull her sword out. She resisted the urge, but that didn't mean she kept her expression under control. No, her eyes were narrowed, tightly pressed lips barely holding back a snarl. The silence seemed to last forever with the way her adrenaline slowed things down to a crawl.

"Who are you?" Her voice shook, fear still in place even as her patience fizzled away.

He gave an amused half-smile, the look completely unnerving. "Do you not remember me?"

Her expression flicked to confusion for a second before flashing back to defensive. "No. Why would I?" She would remember someone with spiritual pressure like this if she'd met them. Not to mention someone like him wouldn't be traipsing about the human world or Hueco Mundo. Now that she had a moment, she recognized that the two soul reapers certainly had the power of captains; not the fodder she saw in the human world. She had no reason to know this man.

"After you tore off your mask, you passed out, completely defenseless to attack. I happened to find you. How else do you think you survived?"

"I…" Aracelis trailed off. No. "That's not…" It couldn't be true. "Why the hell would a soul reaper protect a hollow rather than killing it?"

Despite it being a valid argument in any other instance, right now, it was the weakest. She'd said it herself. She didn't think that she'd made it through the mask incident without someone else's interference. She'd felt that she'd been asleep for at least a few hours, if not multiple days, but when she had woken up she assumed the pain had distorted her sense of time. No hollow unconscious to their surroundings for hours to days would survive; they would be eaten. Even the brief time after being stabbed and left for dead had almost resulted in her becoming a meal.

"Why?" She stared down the soul reaper. "What did you gain from keeping me alive?" No way in hell was she stupid enough to believe he'd done it out of kindness. It's not like she was some cute, defenseless, injured animal; she happened to be a monster that had devoured thousands to gain power. Not cute. Not defenseless. There was a motive, clearly. "Tell me," she growled when he kept quiet, infuriatingly smug look still in place.

"A research subject."

Aracelis opened and closed her mouth, wanting to yell, but not knowing what about. That had to be the truth. She hadn't expected the truth. It made sense, sort of, though. They'd want to study the enemy, right? She understood that and could respect that. At the same time, she hated that she had been a subject for… "For what?" she asked, not understanding. She figured soul reapers understood the consequences of breaking a hollow's mask considering that's how they killed them. There had to be something more specific he'd been looking for.

"The rare opportunity to observe a Vasto Lorde becoming an Arrancar through natural means. The event proved particularly useful to my earlier research into hollowfication."

"Arrancar? What's that mean?" That term was how she ended up back in Hueco Mundo to this whole mess. And the soul reaper seemed willing to answer questions… At the moment. She doubted it would last. The purple-haired soul reaper looked ready to tear her apart every time she opened her mouth. "Are they what I sense in Las Noches?"

"You are able to sense them over such a great distance?" he asked, not actually seeming too interested. More like he was wasting time than anything. "How many are you able to sense?"

"I…" She huffed, concentrating on figuring out a number. "I don't know. One a soul reaper, the rest hollows." Las Noches was a ways off, so counting wasn't too easy. She just sensed the mass of energy gathered together, the soul reaper identifiable because the spiritual pressure was different from the rest.

He decided not to respond to her answering his question. He surprised her, though, when he answered her earlier question. "An Arrancar is a hollow that has torn off its mask to become more powerful. To become more like a soul reaper. The Arrancar of Las Noches are my army, of which you shall be joining very soon."

The sudden change in his tone made Aracelis freeze momentarily. That had been a threat. A blatant threat. All of the hollows she sensed in Las Noches were under his control, then. He was stronger than them, so that made him the leader. He was stronger than her, so she really shouldn't argue but… She hated the idea of a soul reaper ordering her around.

"Join your army?" she scoffed, continuing before her brain caught up to her mouth. "I don't even know who the hell you are."

"That is enough!" the other shouted, finally snapping at her. "You will address Lord Aizen with respect, hollow." He reached for his sword again as a threat, not drawing it right away.

Aracelis glanced back to the brown-haired man, Aizen. He had lost the amused look he had had earlier, it replaced with stare that could kill. She instantly regretted her words.

"I apologize, Lord Aizen," she half-muttered, bowing to hide her frown at having to apologize to a soul reaper. "I had not been aware I was speaking to someone as important as you." She tried to sound as sincere as she could, not wanting to be killed over something as stupid as her words. If… _Because_ he would be her new superior, she needed to play the part of an obedient underling no matter how pissed off it made her. "Please forgive me for not introducing myself properly. My name is Aracelis Fonseca. It would be my honor to serve as part of your Arrancar army." She fought to keep her face from showing how disgusted she felt at her words.

"I am sure you will be a worthy addition to my army after using the Hogyoku.," he said with that false smile, not further explaining what he meant by Hogyoku. "Let us return to Las Noches, Aracelis, Kaname."

With that business concluded, Aizen used flash step to begin the trek back to Las Noches. The other waited for Aracelis to follow, not allowing her a chance to escape while her new leader had his back turned. She ended up using sonido to keep up. Not that she went all out. No, she rather leisurely followed a distance behind Aizen, thinking.

She would need an actual plan to get out of this, because she sure as hell didn't want to be stuck working for some soul reaper. What did he want with a hollow army, anyway? She should have asked before she went and pissed him off. Now she would be at Las Noches before she knew what exactly she had gotten herself into. Once there, the so called Arrancar army could kill her with ease if she tried to get away.

Was she really the same thing as them? If the spiritual pressures she felt had all come from broken-masked hollows, why was she not as strong as them? Surely some of them had been Vasto Lorde like her, but she remained absolutely pathetic in comparison. So pathetic that she had to find a way to escape from the soul reapers rather than fight them. If she could manage to get-

' _Do_ _ **not**_ _try it. You'll only get yourself killed, you idiot. You already know that they are far more powerful than you could ever hope to be, that there is no where you could hide from them. It would be best to follow along with whatever Aizen has planned and hope you survive.'_

So much for not working in groups.

' _This is not a group, it is an army,'_ her instinct hissed back. ' _Not your fanciful ideas of friendship, a weapon to carry out orders. The two are complete opposites.'_

Aracelis rolled her eyes. Fine. If her instinct thought it would be best to play nice, she would… Until she thought of something better, of course. If she found a way out she would be using it, saying screw instinct. Like usual.

After traveling a way, they reached Las Noches, the location unrecognizable to Aracelis. While she had been aware it had been added to- the original 'palace' had been a slab on the ground, some pillars, and no roof -the sheer scale of the changes made her want to stop and simply stare in wonder. A giant dome stretched over the horizon, five central pillars disrupting the curved silhouette along the skyline. Once inside the enormous structure she just fell silent, choosing to focus on architecture rather than the overwhelming spiritual pressures around her.

They had entered through a staircase that descended for quite some time, the area rather dimly light. Once they stepped out into an open area, it became apparent the palace had stuck with the theme of Hueco Mundo. White. White everywhere. The sand had been replaced with stone, making the place almost homey because of the familiar color. The halls became repetitive after a while, making it a labyrinth of twists and turns Aracelis knew she would have difficulty navigating alone.

And, from there, her memory became fuzzy. Exact events blurred. Some sort of crystal- the Hogyoku, maybe? Being dumped into a pit in the ground. Voices. Something about becoming a full Arrancar. All the specifics forgotten as pain flared. She could only remember screaming, her voice becoming hoarse and silent after what had to be hours of pain. The only thing she wanted was to pass out, to not feel whatever was going on, but that relief never came. It felt like she'd torn her mask off all over again.

What felt like forever later, someone pulled her out of the pit just as the pain numbed. She was quick to stumble to her feet and away from whoever grabbed her. The light glared into her eyes, much brighter than she remembered the room being when she had initially been thrown in. Her right arm ached from the shoulder down like it had been dislocated or recovering from a major injury. As her brain caught up and her eyes adjusted to the brightness, the panic waned a bit.

There were three others in the room with her, staring at her. The two round, bizarre looking Arrancar bounced around cheerfully. Their spiritual pressures were insignificant. The other, however, had been one of the stronger ones she had sensed upon entering Las Noches. He stood behind the other two, the remnants of his mask resembling glasses, his hair a pale pink. Compared to the hollows in front of him, he appeared completely human. For a second, she only stared at him, the feeling of seeing another human-like hollow distracting her from actual, important observations. Like her sword in his hand.

"Sword," she demanded as she held out her hand, voice still rough from the earlier screaming. She glared at him, the expression shared by him.

"Now that is hardly a way to speak to your superiors. Consider yourself lucky that I am not supposed to kill you unless you try to escape," he paused, pushing his glasses up, "although, I could make your death seem an accident if I must. I would suggest changing your attitude because I will not be giving you a second warning."

He tossed the sword to her, Aracelis fumbling a bit to catch it because she hadn't been expecting him to actually give it back. Another silence formed. Aracelis glared at the pink-haired Arrancar, still not sure what to think of him. A pompous jerk came to mind, but that was just the vibe his tone gave her. He gave her a once over before looking to the round creatures.

"Lumina, Verona, get her out those rags. She is hardly what I would call presentable, although much more than clothing would be needed to remedy that."

"What are-" Aracelis cut herself off when his yellow eyes narrowed, the tiniest spike in spiritual pressure showing she had struck a nerve. She bit back any response, seeing that it would be a bad idea to piss of someone so much stronger than her over an insult to her appearance. Her strength, maybe, but clothes? She'd keep her mouth shut for once.

The two hollows went on either side of her, grabbing her by the wrists to drag her along because she kept standing there dumbly. Their mindless giggling and excitement as they pulled Aracelis down another hall towards a set of doors made her consider fleeing. Too bad that the other had followed his lackeys down the hall, likely to ensure Aracelis didn't have the chance to run.

The two shoved her into a room, closing the doors behind them.

"Pick something out!" one shouted.

"Quick!" the other added.

"Quick!" the first repeated.

"Qui-"

"I get it," Aracelis interrupted, noticing that the two would keep repeating. "Shut up!" When the two fell silent she felt oddly happy. Probably because she got to boss someone else around rather than the current, disturbing trend of her being yelled at by her supposed superiors.

She looked away from the two annoying hollows to see what the room had to offer. Her face went blank as she glanced around the room filled with clothing. White clothing. _Only_ white clothing. She should have guessed when she saw the other hollows and soul reapers wearing white that it had been part of some sort of uniform to go along with the army idea. Not that she had a color preference that she could think of- not a lot of that going on in Hueco Mundo. She had just grown accustomed to the black she'd been wearing for few centuries. Her clothes couldn't be in _that_ bad of… When she glimpsed her clothes, she sighed. Completely tattered and torn apart, one thread away from falling off in places.

After coming to terms with the necessity of a change in clothes, she set to work digging around the room for something acceptable. In the end she found some tolerable items. The shirt she chose had one strap over her left shoulder, leaving the scar on her right free from discomfort. Lengthwise, it was a bit short, revealing skin on her hips and lower stomach. The pattering on it had actually been the first thing she noticed- the black strips across it reminded her of the plating she had before breaking her mask. She found pants that hung loosely around her legs, but without an excessive amount of fabric that would get caught on things or flap around. The pants included a black sash, which she slipped her sword through so she didn't have to carry it in her hand. She also ended up tucking the pants into a pair of mid-calf boots she found.

As soon as she was changed Verona and Lumina grabbed for her wrists again. She pulled away, face showing how offended she felt. The two backed off as she spiked her spiritual pressure to make it very clear that she would not be allowing them to touch her again. The two hurriedly ran to the doors, flinging them open to reveal the pink-haired man waiting impatiently for her.

He didn't wait around or try talking with her. Instead he turned around, briskly walking down the hall. The one glance over he threw his shoulder told Aracelis that she was to follow or die. She fell into step a few feet behind him, the other two nearly having to run to keep up with how spindly and short their legs were.

"May I ask who you are?" Aracelis asked after walking in silence down yet another white hall. She attempted to be polite, taking the earlier threat seriously.

"Szayelaporro Granz, Espada number eight."

"Espada?" It was some sort of title. Had to be with the conceited way he said it.

He nearly stopped as he gave an exasperated, overly-dramatic sigh. "You are an absolute imbecile. Where have you been the last century to not even know of the Espada?" As she opened her mouth to respond, she found out it had been a rhetorical question as he just kept talking. "Honestly, what potential does Lord Aizen even see in you?" Szayelaporro paused, though not long enough for Aracelis to add her opinion in. "I take that back. You do have _some_ interesting defects, but that hardly makes up for your awful personality and lack of intellect. He must be trying to pawn you off on someone just to create a stir to keep himself entertained."

Aracelis wrinkled her nose at the continued insults, and the way he was talking down at her. She just wanted a damn question answered, not an analysis of what traits made her apparently abhorrent to the eighth Espada. She tuned out the rest of what he babbled about, most of it some sort of scientific proof that she was inferior to him. If everyone in Las Noches had as big of ego as Szayelaporro, she would lose her mind.

"I will explain in the absolute simplest of terms so even a simple-minded creature like you can understand. The Espada are the ten most powerful Arrancar in Las Noches, thusly making us the core of Lord Aizen's army." He held up a hand to stop her from speaking. "Now, before you open your mouth and start screeching with that obnoxious voice of yours again, I'll tell you where I am leading you. Vasto Lorde turned into Arrancar would typically be much more powerful than you are currently, but you still exceed much of the Números. Lord Aizen thought it would be fitting to request one of the Espada to take you as their Fracción based on your relative strength- or that is at least what he told me."

Números. They must the other sizable spiritual pressures scattered about Las Noches. The ones weaker than that were likely servants- to keep such a large fortress in order there had to be servants. The Espada sure as hell didn't sound like a cleaning crew. "Fracción?" she muttered, glancing behind her at the two Arrancar struggling to keep up. "Is that what the Arrancar serving an Espada are called?" If that were the case, she already found one Espada she didn't want to be subordinate to. Something didn't seem right about the two and she didn't want to end up the same.

He looked over his shoulder, catching her staring at Verona and Lumina. "That is correct. Do not look so concerned. I have already been denied having you as a Fracción. Not that I had any interest to begin with. At most you would have been a useful subject for dissection and study; nothing more."

She almost sarcastically thanked him for such high regards. Actually, it was probably better if he had minimal interest in her. From the sound of things, he liked to experiment on other hollows. She'd been an experiment once and look where that had gotten her.

With the conversation's death, Aracelis became overly aware of how they were walking ever nearer to a room filled with powerful spiritual pressures. She picked out Aizen's first, just confirming that the other two soul reapers were elsewhere in Las Noches. The other nine were the rest of the Espada, then. They apparently had their Fracción with them considering the room held more than ten spiritual pressures. An entire crowd would be there to greet her. Grand.

As soon as the heavy, tall doors swung open Aracelis lost whatever nerve she had. Merely stepping into the room with an ounce of faked confidence took full concentration. While not as bad as before, she recognized that these were incredibly powerful hollows that probably wouldn't have a problem killing her in one hit. That fact disturbed her on a base level. Her skin crawled with that instinctual fear of those more powerful. While over a distance she had gauged their power, the Espada up close were more fearsome then she could comprehend. Whatever Aizen had done to them –herself included- they were all on a level previously beyond what a normal hollow had been capable of.

The moment she stood at the front of the room, her ears seemed to shut down. So many stares were directed at her, each holding varying degrees of disinterest and curiosity. She froze in place, unable to direct attention to what was being discussed. The only bits she caught were what Szayelaporro had already explained, just restated by Aizen to the rest of the Espada after they concluded whatever sort of meeting they had been having beforehand. While the soul reaper talked she searched for someone familiar to send a pleading look to. A known hollow was at least a fraction better.

She started on the left, seeing as how the Espada had randomly spread about the room- they weren't in order of spiritual pressure, at least. The first she saw were a pair of hollows, a man and a girl. The guy was leaned against the wall, apparently sleeping, while the green-haired child was more focused on poking him in the side than on Aracelis. She had no idea who they were, so she moved on.

The second was an old man sitting on some sort of throne while surrounded by his subjects. Barragan. His spiritual energy hadn't changed too much, that the soul reason why Aracelis could still recognize him by that alone. Although the sitting on a throne with underlings about didn't make it hard to figure out who he was. His half-glare showed he recognized her, but not that he would want her as a Fracción. She had been uncooperative in joining his army before, so he definitely didn't want her now.

"Not interested," a man said, drawing attention to him as he turned to stalk away. He had light blue hair, and a '6' tattooed on his back next to the hollow hole through his gut. An Espada, if she took the mark as a rank. His gathering of Fracción went to follow after him, one or two glancing over their shoulders like they were trying to place where they'd seen Aracelis before. She recognized the lower ranked ones better than their leader. The panther and his group had survived, apparently. It was probably best that Grimm-whatever didn't remember her face or he probably would have had more to say. She hadn't exactly been nice to him when she had ranked above him.

As her eyes skimmed over a lone Espada with a mask covering an oddly shaped head, another man spoke up to verbally confirm he had zero interest. The tall and thin Espada that sported an eyepatch scoffed before beginning to the walk to the door to leave. "I don't need some weak woman," he growled, like he had been offended to even have been offered the opportunity. He was followed out by another male, the brown haired Arrancar bowing politely as if to apologize to Aizen before fast-walking to catch up with the other.

At this point, Aracelis felt less than confident in her chances of being a Fracción. With how things were going, she would be a servant: the lowest of the low, completely expendable. She'd rather not be at the bottom of the food chain again. She would be lying if she said she wanted to be high ranked just to escape the menial tasks the servants had to be taking care of. She didn't spend centuries evolving to clean floors.

And then she saw them. A blond woman with teal eyes, three other, slightly aggravated-looking women flanking her. Harribel, without a doubt. Aracelis felt relieved to see someone familiar that she had been on somewhat of good terms with. Surely Harribel's offer hadn't had an expiration date. But… No matter how hard Aracelis stared at Harribel, near pleading her to speak up, the blonde said nothing.

Thundering laughter interrupted the silence of the room. The laughs were immediately followed by a booming voice asking "What's that face? See something you like, Ulquiorra?"

Aracelis jerked her head to the right side of the room. She gave a wide-eyed stare and the rest of her face went blank, too many expressions needing to be shown at once. Next to the still-laughing, bulky Arrancar stood a shorter male, his eyes solely focused on Aracelis, mouth even open a fraction as the utter shock of seeing her alive got the better of him. Even with the human form, the black hair, the white skin, the horn off the side of his mask remnants, the green tear-like markings down his face, and, of course, the green irises with slit pupils were all strikingly familiar. She would have recognized him even without the other calling him by name half a second ago. Felt like longer as they stared at each other with mirrored expressions of shock.

He… He was… He was alive. Alive and standing a few feet away. And an Espada- had to be with his spiritual pressure. That was why she hadn't noticed him earlier. His spiritual pressure had changed. Barely a trace remained of what it had been before. Stronger, of course, but warped almost. She really had to concentrate to pick out what she had remembered as his spiritual pressure.

While frozen in a staring contest, she missed Aizen shift his analytic, if not slightly amused, gaze between the two. Ulquiorra did not. He immediately returned his face to blank indifference, that change making Aracelis see that gawking at each other would seem incredibly odd, especially because Ulquiorra likely kept limited expressions. Even without a mask over his face, she figured he would be as expressive as before: Not. At. All. She wasn't about to make them both look weak to the other Espada that remained in the room- at least the cat had left because as soon as he recognized her, there would be trouble.

She glanced around the room on that note. Of course they were all looking at them, the loud behemoth next to Ulquiorra having called all the attention to the exchange. For the most part they looked impassive with the display, but they continued to stare nonetheless. They knew something was up.

And then Aizen had to break the silence. "Ulquiorra, you seem to be acquainted with this woman."

"Yes, sir," he confirmed. Upon hearing his voice, Aracelis was positive it was him, no lingering doubts whatsoever. Cold and emotionless. That tone was unmistakably his. Bizarrely she had missed the sound of it.

Aizen shifted his gaze to Aracelis for a second before returning his attention back to Ulquiorra. "Given your acquaintance with her, would it be right to assume you would be willing to take her as a Fracción and train her?"

Ulquiorra glanced at her briefly, his expression unreadable. "If that is your wish, Lord Aizen, I shall comply," he said with a bow, the model solider. His deference to the soul reaper made Aracelis feel angry. He seemed too obedient and it made her question what exactly had happened to him. Of course, he did actually understand and respect power dynamics, unlike her.

Aizen gave a half-smile that hardly appeared friendly, looking more like a smirk at a plan gone perfectly. "My dear Espada, continue your good work." With that said, the meeting concluded, Aizen first out of the room with a few of the Espada filing out in different directions- Barragan, sleepy, and their respective Fracción.

That left Aracelis and Ulquiorra at the center of the room under the gaze of odd-head, Harribel, Szayelaporro, spikey head, and loud mouth. She had no idea what to even say to Ulquiorra, so she froze up to awkwardly stare at him. Not that he made a move toward her. Instead he turned to glare upwards at the loud Espada who had resumed laughing.

"Yammy, do you not have something else to do than stand here cackling at nothing like an idiot?" Despite it being an obvious threat to tell Yammy to shut up, his voice remained flat and matter-of-fact.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't care anymore anyways," Yammy answered, waving a giant hand as he turned to leave. The movement actually created a gust of air with how bulky he was. "That look was hilarious though." As he walked past Aracelis, she felt the floor shake beneath his feet.

With Yammy out of room, it became silent to the point that anytime someone moved, the fabric of their clothes could be heard as it brushed against itself. No one else made a move to leave the room, nor did Aracelis figure out what she wanted to say. Ulquiorra had waited a second before walking towards her, hands in pockets. He decided that whatever conversation they were about to have would not be taking place in front of the other Espada.

"Follow," he ordered as he walked past Aracelis.

She snapped out of her stupor, turning on her heel to follow behind him. Before they exited the room, she glanced over her shoulder to see Harribel watching the two. Aracelis wondered if Harribel had figured out that Ulquiorra had been the one she was looking for ages ago, that being why she didn't speak up earlier. She was curious enough to ask if she ever got the chance.

Instead, though, she silently followed Ulquiorra to whatever destination he was leading her to. He didn't seem content to talk, so she turned her attention to figuring out what to say whenever they got to wherever they were going. As the shock was fading she could feel it. The confusion over why she was so damn happy. Elated, even. Why did she care so much? She was still forcibly conscripted into an army lead by a shady soul reaper. The fact that one single hollow had appeared should not outweigh the danger of the situation she found herself in. If anything, she should be concerned that he _was_ alive because she never did figure out if he meant to kill her or not. Her situation hadn't actually improved with finding him; not that she actually felt that way. She couldn't be happier at that moment, which made her question her sanity again. Another circle of thoughts to whirl around in her head. Great.

A walk probably wouldn't be enough time to figure out how she felt and what she wanted to say.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you for reading! I hope you all enjoyed this fairly long chapter. They're back together at least, which means Las Noches time! The other Espada members get to make appearances now~ They've always been my favorites.**

 **As for when this is, I… um... I guess after Aizen and co has defected but before the actual war beings (and Ulquiorra's been there for some time already, as well). I actually have zero idea how much time is between Rukia's execution and the start of the Arrancar arc. Just go with it, please.**

 **haipa-chan- Happy to hear you thought the recruiting thing went well last chapter- to my knowledge his recruitment was never explained anywhere, so I figured I'd try to make an explanation for it. And they did meet up again, at least! Chapter was getting a bit long so the talking will come later. For some reason you phrasing of 'new and improved friend' continues to amuse me. Thank you for reviewing again!**

 **ChaosDemon1129- Wow, thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story to such a degree as to call it beautiful! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- And they met up! The next one is them actually talking, though. I'm happy to hear Aracelis playing with spirits and soul reapers last chapter turned out well and you liked it! Needed to get her back to Hueco Mundo somehow, and bothering soul reapers is her human world pastime. Thank you for the encouragement and reviewing again!**


	10. Chapter 10- Reunion

Ulquiorra stood idly on the side of the room, waiting as Szayelaporro went to fetch the newest Arrancar. It was curious that Lord Aizen wished this Arrancar to be taken as a Fracción immediately following its creation, disregarding the usual standard of an Espada choosing from the existing Números after ascertaining their strength levels. Whatever hollow Lord Aizen and Tosen had happened upon had been an oddity of considerable strength, then.

Not that he sensed anything. The Arrancar had its spiritual pressure well-hidden, the few minute spikes intentional judging the proximity of Szayelaporro's Fracción at the time. Even as he tracked the eighth Espada and his subordinates, he could not sense the supposed addition. Perhaps that had been the interest. An Arrancar with the ability to restrain its spiritual pressure in its entirety would be useful for stealth and infiltration. But, even with that ability, there was no reason to assign them to an Espada. Not unless they were in need of constant supervision, or for some other reason Lord Aizen did not wish to specify. The entire spectacle was suspect.

The doors groaned as Szayelaporro's Fracción fought to shove them open. Szayelaporro entered the room first, the footsteps of the other light, if not hesitant, as they followed.

His entire body stiffened, his mouth falling open a fraction from the sheer shock, as _she_ entered the room. She was supposed to be dead, but… How did…? He stared at her, missing Lord Aizen's words as his focus was solely diverted to her. No matter how much he tried to deny it being her, he couldn't. Blue hair. Dark Skin. Partial mask over the left-side of her face. Scar across her right shoulder.

Aracelis was alive.

He hadn't even begun to suspect the Arrancar being her. Now that she stood at the front of the room, it became obvious why he hadn't sensed her earlier. Not only was she hiding her spiritual pressure, she had somehow made it void. Where she stood, the spiritual energy radiating from the Espada, their Fracción, as well as even Lord Aizen became null. She drew it in, the vortex of energy most heavily distorted around her right shoulder. While he had noticed the odd flow of spiritual pressure a long time ago, it had never been to this degree. In the past he could still sense a trace of her spiritual pressure at all times. Being exposed to the Hogyoku must have caused her latent ability to become strengthened. She probably didn't know she was doing it, either, knowing her observation skills.

And, when he concluded that analysis, he found himself still staring at her. He just couldn't believe she was still alive. Where had she been hiding that Lord Aizen had just now found her? They had searched the majority of Hueco Mundo for Vasto Lorde already, very few locations remaining unsearched. He –or rather the tree- had been found by Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck during one such search, Lord Aizen personally investigating as he was the only one capable of destroying the tree without risk of injury. For her to have found a more secluded spot than that tree… Wherever she had hidden herself must have been outright inhospitable for a hollow, therefore making it one of the last places they would search.

She had yet to see him. For some ridiculous reason he almost considered using sonido to leave before she _did_ notice him. Once she did, she would create a commotion. He did not need the rest of Espada to assume that she had been his… His companion? No. Ally. Ally was what she had been, nothing as sentimental as companion. Even ally had a connotation he was reluctant to accept. At least the most bothersome of the Espada had already left after seeing Aracelis as weak because her misleading lack of spiritual energy- Grimmjow and Nnoitra would have been intolerable if they witnessed such a scene.

The silence in the room was shattered as Yammy began cackling. With his attention so focused on Aracelis, he had forgotten the idiot had been standing beside him the entire time. Her reappearance had already affected his judgement for the worse. Forgetting Yammy standing next you usually took a conscious effort.

"What's that face?" Yammy shouted between laughs. "See something you like, Ulquiorra?"

And, with his name being screamed, Aracelis whipped her head around to meet his gaze. That made another momentary lapse where Ulquiorra didn't force his expression back to neutral. For a few seconds she merely stared at him much like he had her. She hadn't expected this development either.

The second he noticed the odd display had been witnessed by Lord Aizen, he returned his focus to the situation at hand rather than _just_ Aracelis. He blanked his expression if only to pretend he hadn't been so interested in her. Aracelis glanced around the room, for once understanding the situation, and acting as indifferent as she could manage, which wasn't very much. Any further uncharacteristic responses from him and the Espada would suspect something more than they already did.

"Ulquiorra," Lord Aizen began, "you seem to be acquainted with this woman." A statement rather than a question.

"Yes, sir," he confirmed. It was easy to guess where Lord Aizen would be taking this conversation. Curse Yammy for forcing all the attention on him.

After giving another examining glance at Aracelis, Lord Aizen looked back to him. "Given your acquaintance with her, would it be right to assume you would be willing to take her as a Fracción and train her?"

An order, not a question. Ulquiorra's eyes shifted over to her for a second. He didn't want a Fracción, especially not her. She would need constant supervision given her tendency to do the outrageous when bored. And he didn't want to deal with the constant irrationality she seemed to bring upon him. Lord Aizen also seemed to have an ulterior motive –as he suspected- to assigning Aracelis to an Espada. The earlier, amused, look he had given after seeing that they knew each other showed he had something planned.

"If that is your wish, Lord Aizen, I shall comply," he said with a slight bow. It had been an order and he would fulfill it even if he found it distasteful. When he straightened his back he caught Aracelis frowning, though it was only a flicker of one. It returned as soon as Lord Aizen began speaking again.

"My Dear Espada, continue your good work."

With his words effectively dismissing the meeting, Lord Aizen, Barragan and his Fracción, and Stark and Lilinette left the room, leaving Aaroniero, Zommari, Szayelaporro, Harribel, and Yammy. Aracelis remained quiet as she stared at him, clearly wanting to say something, but he took the opportunity turn his attention to Yammy, who had just resumed laughing obnoxiously loud.

"Yammy, do you not have something else to do than stand here cackling at nothing like an idiot?"

"Yeah, yeah. I don't care anymore anyways," Yammy answered, waving his hand once dismissively as he turned to leave. "That look was hilarious though," he added as he walked away.

With Yammy's departure, the room fell silent. The remaining Espada kept quiet, waiting to see what would happen. Aracelis had yet to snap out of her daze. He would take advantage of that. He walked towards her, noticing that she had frozen up and not taken the cue that they were leaving.

"Follow."

The order was enough to get her to move her feet, although she did hesitate for a second as she looked over her shoulder to Harribel. She had mentioned meeting the third before. If only Yammy hadn't created such a scene, then Harribel might have been stuck with Aracelis instead of him.

She silently followed behind him through the halls, that changing when they reached the outside. He heard her stop in her tracks. When he glanced over his shoulder, he saw she had been distracted by the false sky overhead.

After a second of looking confused, she glared at the blue sky, muttering, "Did the soul reapers not like Hueco Mundo's sky or something? Are we just going to pretend that's not where we are, or what?"

While he chose not to answer, he agreed with her for once. The fake sky irritated him. This wasn't the Soul Society or the World of the Living. There was no point in pretending it was, other than perhaps denial. He preferred the black, moonlit sky to the bright blue. Perhaps she would be appreciative of her new quarters, then. It would be at least one less thing she would complain about.

The next break in the silence came when they had reached the part of Las Noches designated as his quarters: a tower that rose partially above the canopy. While he did not spend much time there, making Aracelis stay there seemed like the best option at the moment. Keeping her out of sight and in a single place would restrict her from creating havoc until he decided how to best keep her under control.

Not that he should be going through all this effort. Any other hollow and he would merely threaten them into submission. Even Aracelis could be made to comply through physical force if necessary. Somehow she had managed to convince him that he didn't want to do that without so much as saying a word, though.

"Why are there so many stairs," she muttered, interrupting his thoughts. "Is this entire building stairs or something? It's boring." He glanced over his shoulder in time to catch her narrowing her eyes as she continued walking upwards. "Annoying too." When she noticed he had been looking at her, she glanced off to the side, arms crossed over her chest as she pretended to study the apparently boring wall.

After that, the only sound as they continued up the stairs were their footsteps. Every time they turned a corner, he caught her jerking her head to the side as she tried to act like she wasn't staring at the back of his head the entire time. She retained the look of wanting to say something, though she seemed to be avoiding beginning the conversation herself. Unless her complaints had been a way to try and initiate a conversation rather than just her sharing her thoughts on pointless matters like the sky and stairs.

She had been so caught up in her thoughts that when he stopped in front of a door she crashed into him, stumbling back, eyes focused on the ground in a pathetic attempt to hide her embarrassment. Her own clumsiness distracted her to the point he nearly had to shove her into the room for her to understand that she was to enter.

Once inside, she looked around at the rather plainly decorated room- she had grown used to seeing cluttered human dwellings filled with strange decorations she didn't know the purpose of. Really, all that was in the room was a bed with white sheets, a white wardrobe, and, imagine that, white curtains over a large window. The curtains were parted enough to see a sliver of black sky, meaning they had climbed a tower that went above the dome. If she wanted to, she could jump out the window quite easily and be outside- maybe escape if no one was watching.

The door closing made her freeze for a second before turning around to face him. Neither spoke, that awkward silence continuing even now that they stood alone. Gradually Aracelis built up the courage to walk forward, stopping within reach of Ulquiorra. He watched her carefully wondering what she was up to.

She slowly raised her hand, her fingers lightly tracing the side of his mask. "You're seriously alive," she muttered a second later, having confirmed that he was truly standing in front of her. She just kept feeling like she was in some sort of weird reality that would fade away the second she blinked for too long. Physically being able to reach out and touch him without him disappearing made that reality a bit more stable, at least.

It took him far longer than it should have to register that she was touching him. Immediately he reached for her wrist, at first nearly crushing it before settling for just a firm grip as not to hurt her. Then he noticed the scar on the underside of her wrist. It had to be from there fight, when he snapped the bone. He glanced to her other arm to see the two scars on opposite sides of her forearm where he had stabbed her with her sword. Likely she had a large scar on her side as well. With her regenerative abilities… He must have injured her severely for there to be lasting scars.

When he dropped her wrist, she returned her arm to her side. She then strategically crossed her arms when she noticed his stare still focused on the scars. It was hard to tell what he exactly thought of them- his face was as blank as ever- but she felt uncomfortable with the attention. She honestly didn't care about the scars themselves, it was just that she couldn't tell if they made him remember the incident or brought about any sort of negative reaction.

Not that how he felt should worry her. Why did she care so damn much over such silly things? He'd literally said one word to her and her brain had already given up on maintaining purely hollow reactions. No, she got ridiculous human feelings like compassion too. She had forgotten just how confused she got around him.

"How did you survive?"

She nearly jumped at the sound of his voice, it seeming much louder than it actually was considering the relative silence the entire walk from the meeting hall to where they were now had been. His tone almost sounded accusatory too. "You, um, stabbed me through my hollow hole." She dumbly pointed at the hole just below her collarbone, it visible because her shirt dipped down just enough to show it. She thought he would have figured that out as soon as he saw it.

He silently stared at her for a second. "I already know that. I will rephrase the question: Why did your spiritual pressure disappear?" Had she lowered it on purpose, like she was now? If it had been, he could not see what reason she had to hide from him. While he may have injured her severely, he had had no intention of killing her. Unless she thought he had. Not that he would correct her- it would be better if she assumed he had meant to kill her. Fear would be one way to keep her under control. If she knew the opposite were true, she may try to use it against him.

"I, ah…" She shifted her weight, looking away. "I don't know." It wasn't the whole truth. She had concluded she had drained it with all of the regeneration and ceros she had used in the fight, even if that didn't make complete sense to her. Honestly, she couldn't figure out what had happened. One moment she had had energy and the next she was stumbling blindly into her sword with none. "I was fairly injured, then I woke up surrounded by a bunch of other hollows. I ended using a garganta and escaping to the human world to recover… For a few months." Those injuries took forever to heal with her spiritual energy being gone.

"I see." That… That would explain why he didn't sense her after the incident. She had been in the human world. By the time she had returned, he had already been in the tree. And she seemed unaware of the reason why she had seemingly no spiritual pressure. Either she had hidden it-perhaps even unknowingly, knowing her- or she had drained it during the battle. After that she had fled in the human world to recover, which made sense given she would not have to fend off as many hollows and could presumably hide herself from any soul reapers.

"Where did you go?" Aracelis asked after a moment of silence, figuring it was her turn to ask questions. "I tried finding you. I mean, I think I looked everywhere in Hueco Mundo for you." It's not like he would have been in the Land of the Living given his distaste for humans. After spending so much time searching for him, she was admittedly curious how he managed to elude her.

He didn't respond in a clear show that he would _not_ be answering. It only irritated her into glaring at him as she bit back yelling at him. For now, anyway.

"Fine," she muttered under her breath. A different question. A less personal one, hopefully. "Why is your spiritual pressure so different? And don't tell me it's because of that crystal thingy of Aiz-"she hesitated when she saw him narrow his eyes a fraction. "I mean Lord Aizen. But yeah, I can still recognize Harribel's and Barragan's, but yours is completely different from before. Warped, almost."

Despite her eyes locked onto his, he blatantly ignored her question. He had hoped she wouldn't have noticed that aspect. The only reason that tree had not absorbed him like the other hollows that became ensnared was that he had overpowered it. Of course that meant he absorbed the tree's collective power which had in turn altered his spiritual pressure.

Aracelis, however, retained that annoying habit of hers of picking up on exactly what he didn't want her to. If he did not change the subject, this situation would surely become like the time she found out he had lost his sense of touch and hearing. He did not want her drawing farfetched conclusions of why he had crawled into that tree either. That was something he didn't want to deal with right now, if ever.

"Sort of familiar too, now that I think about it."

"It doesn't-" he quickly began before she remembered whatever she was thinking of, knowing she would react poorly to his words. If she truly had searched Hueco Mundo, she may have come across the tree.

"Don't you dare say it doesn't matter!" she screamed, losing the last of her calm at the dismissal of both of her questions while she had at least sort of answered his. "Do you know how long I spent looking for you? I even asked Harribel if she'd look for you!" She threw her hands up, taking a few steps back from him. She wanted to slap him when he kept that damned blank expression across his face. "And now you don't want to say a damn word about it. I told you where I was, you should at least give me some idea where you were, okay? I was…" Aracelis sighed, looking to the white floor beneath her feet. "Worried," she whispered. "I thought you were dead."

"But I am alive," he stated matter-of-factly. "That should be enough to assuage your so called worries."

"Ulquiorra, you are absolutely frustrating, you know that?" Although he was right, like always. First of all, she shouldn't have been worrying about another hollow's well-being. Second, him standing in front of her should be all she needed to know. What happened to him shouldn't matter to her in the least. A hollow's only concern should be their own survival- no one else's. Yet here she was, still pissed he wouldn't tell her anything. "Can you answer just one thing, then? I'll shut up if you do."

"You are in no position to bargain with me considering you are my subordinate."

"Ulquiorra," she near-whined as she rolled her eyes. That would be his go to excuse now. Of course, she had occasionally lorded her power over him in the past- not that he listened. He knew she wouldn't kill him no matter what he did. That was her one concern now. "Did you want to kill me?" she asked, completely serious as she stared him down.

And then the most bizarre thing happened. He hastily turned to leave without a word. Not that she missed the brief moment when his pupils constricted in surprise. Before he could effectively run away, she grabbed the back of his collar and tugged at it. Instant regret.

The second her hand caught the back of his shirt he spiked his spiritual pressure to pin her where she stood- surprisingly she stayed on her feet. He immediately felt her let go, however. Without turning around to see her, he ordered her to "Stay here."

"W-wait, don't just… Just leave," she forced out, feeling like she had a building on her. "I don't… Know." She still had no idea what was going on with the soul reapers and the supposed army. Or anything, really.

"Stay here," he repeated. "I will return shortly." He continued his way out the door, keeping his spiritual pressure high just so she understood not to follow. He briefly considered increasing it more just to see what it would take to make her fall to her knees- what he was doing now was enough to physically crush lesser hollows and make most of the Números lose consciousness.

Once he was two halls away, he can to an abrupt stop when he recognized what he had just done. He ran away. The fourth Espada had run away because he didn't want to tell his Fracción to behave. He let her chase him off because she happened to ask exactly what he didn't wish to tell her. She would figure it out anyways now that he had reacted to the question in such a ridiculous way. In her presence, he truly did lose a bit of his rationality. He needed to stop letting her affect him even if he didn't see why she did.

Aracelis, free of being crushed, slammed the door closed, a few cracks spreading across the wall with the excessive force she'd used. After stomping her way over to the bed she sat down on it crossed-legged, arms folded over her chest. Her glare became focused on a particular section of the floor.

Unbelievable. He wouldn't tell her a damn thing! And then he just left her behind. When that soul reaper had been threatening her, she thought that was as angry as she could get. How wrong she had been. Ulquiorra managed to get on every single one of her nerves, but also managed to make her mad at herself.

She hated it. Absolutely hated it. Of all the things she never considered. She found him attractive. Physically attractive. It was just… What the hell? Must have come with the 'becoming more like a soul reaper' thing. They were essentially human. Humans used appearance to judge reproductive worth… Not that hollows had children. So that actually made the attraction completely pointless and even more confusing. She just… She had always liked his eyes and his personality- when he wasn't being infuriating. Admittedly, now that he was more human, it was easier to see him as attractive rather than just another hollow.

With her train of thought becoming more and more bizarre, she growled under her breath. The fact her face felt flushed wasn't helping. She held her hand out, very tempted to blast a hole through the floor with a cero or two. After a second of considering the action, she closed her hand into a tight fist before letting herself fall back onto the bed.

At least one thing made sense. Damn was his strength impressive. His spiritual pressure had made her entire body shake with the crushing force and instinctual fear. He hadn't even been using the full extent of it, either. Forget him being stronger than her, he could kill just about anything in Hueco Mundo. He had to be high-ranked among the Espada. She'd have to try asking- at least he would probably answer because the question was hardly personal. It was a bragging right if anything. And, if he didn't tell her, she could ask any other hollow that'd been in Las Noches the past… However long the soul reapers had been playing around there.

The soul reapers. That thought finally made her return to the situation at hand. She knew nothing. The longer she stayed, the more likely she would get further caught up in whatever Aizen had planned. He needed an army for something, but she had no idea why. Ulquiorra had been her one way of finding that out and he ran off.

She rolled over onto her side, glancing at the window. Escaping would be best, but… Even if she managed to get out of Las Noches, let alone Hueco Mundo, there was nowhere to hide. With how powerful the Espada seemed, they could drag her back no matter where she went. Actually, they would probably just kill her. Why keep a disobedient soldier? Obviously they could create more Arrancar to replace her. It's not like she had any particularly useful abilities.

But, because she didn't know anything and didn't have any interesting abilities, would they bother coming after her? She couldn't share what they had planned. She couldn't fight against them on her own. Why waste time tracking down a relatively useless, disobedient hollow? Maybe she could just-

"Are you seriously still considering running away?"

Aracelis shot up, looking around the room. After seeing nothing, she sort of laughed at how jumpy she was. Now even her thoughts sounded like different people. She must have imagined it, but that last warning hadn't been her voice. No, it had been unfamiliar, except for the irritated, condescending tone. She was used to hearing that.

 _You are an idiot._

"I know," she muttered, answering herself aloud. She had imagined it. Her instinct was the same as ever.

She laid back down, her back to the door as she lazily looked at the white wall in front of her. She did feel tired. Not to the point of hallucinating, but apparently she was. A nap sounded nice. It's not like she had much else to do at the moment. Ulquiorra would be back. He wouldn't just leave her to her own devices for too long. If he did, she _would_ go off on her own and create problems just to get back at him for being such a jerk regarding her questions. Yeah, probably not the smartest idea, but she would do it.

At least she had gotten an answer to one question, even if he didn't say it aloud. He hadn't been trying to kill her. Why else would he run? He didn't want to admit he didn't want to kill her. With how surprised he had been, he didn't consider his actions, either. She smiled, quite pleased with catching him off guard with something.

Now to make him admit it in words. That would be a feat, but… She just wanted to hear him say it. She just wanted to hear him admit that he didn't hate her, or perhaps considered her an… an ally. Something more. Hopefully not something less.

That sounded like the perfect goal to distract her until she could find a way out of this supposed army.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to desroper, pinkus-pyon, CarishTale, and Wanderstar for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- And it only got more awkward~ They just don't know what to think about each other and get so confused, those silly hollows. I'm glad you liked the last chapter- I'd been excited to get to Las Noches and the Espada. Thank you for reviewing again!**

 **haipa-chan- Awkward and charged indeed! I'm glad the interactions with Aizen worked out- typing that took forever because I was just so unsure how to write for him. And poor Aracelis never knows what's going on anymore, especially when Ulquiorra peaces out of there. Thank you for reviewing!**


	11. Chapter 11- Challenges

Awhile later, Ulquiorra wandered back to her room, knowing that he had already left her alone for far too long. When he entered, he saw why she had remained in place. She had fallen asleep, her back to the door as she clutched a pillow to her chest. Aracelis had always slept more often than necessary, her body apparently requiring it. Presumably she used the time as a way to conserve energy. If she were similar to Yammy, he would assume she gained strength through rest; however, she never did gain any noticeable power. At least she hadn't before being exposed to the Hogyoku.

Of course, with her, she might sleep just to pass the time. Boredom drove her to do stranger things.

He turned to close the door, narrowing his eyes slightly at the cracks spread out over the wall. She had already broken something. Her needlessly destructive nature was irritating. More so when she was his responsibility. If she went around smashing apart buildings it would reflect poorly on him. He would have to make it clear that such actions were not tolerable.

"So you're back, huh?" Aracelis grumbled, the sound of the door closing enough to wake her up from her light nap. She didn't rollover to face him right away, instead finding it easier to complain without him staring her down. "You going to storm off again if I try asking you anything?"

Of course he gave no response, forcing her to sit up to aim a glare over her shoulder. Slowly she turned herself around to sit on the edge of the bed, arms crossed over her chest.

"I'll take that as a maybe, then." She rolled her eyes when he didn't say anything again. He'd remembered that not reacting eventually bored her into changing subjects. "What's going on with the soul reapers? Why are they here? Why do they need an army? Knowing anything, at this point, would be nice."

"How much do you know already?" Surely she hadn't been _that_ oblivious to what was happening to miss the decades of events that revolved around the construction of Las Noches and the assembly of the Espada. Then again, her observation skills were lacking.

She gave him an exasperated look. "I just told you: nothing. I don't have a damn clue what's going on here. I'd been in the human world because I was bored of this place." Aracelis glanced off to the side to mutter, "Only came back because another hollow mentioned soul reapers being here. Stupid curiosity."

"It is Lord Aizen's intention to destroy the Soul Society through the use of the Hogyoku." He knew more of course, but that information was only for the Espada.

"I understood about half that, but okay. I guess we'll be fighting soul reapers, eventually, then," she said, uncrossing her arms so she could lean back on one hand and wave the other around as she talked. "That why there are ten Espada? To face the Court Guard's captains, right?"

"That is-"

"Are the soul reapers all former captains, by the way? Never quite caught their purpose here, beyond forcing hollows into some sort of Soul Society crushing army after using some sort of mystical crystal to augment their natural abilities. I'd like to know who I've been forced to work for," she said with a fake smile, still pissed off that she had been forced into some stupid spat between soul reapers.

While his slightly narrowed eyes showed he had not found her sarcasm-laced summary of the situation amusing, he nodded once to answer her question.

"So, how'd you get dragged into this?" She leaned forward a bit, tilting her head to the side. He seemed oddly committed to it all. Disturbingly loyal to Aizen, too. She honestly hoped that he had been forced to join as well, the devotion feigned just to avoid a major conflict. Then, maybe, she could convince him to escape with her. At least then there would be two of them –one of the Espada, nonetheless- and they might stand a chance at fending off anyone that came after them.

"I had been approached by Lord Aizen, him offering to grant me more power in exchange for being a part of his army. I found the offer reasonable enough considering I could evolve no further and had nothing to do."

Aracelis stayed quiet for a moment, her eyes downcast. "You willingly joined, then."

That complicated things. He wouldn't leave. For whatever reason he had decided that he would be seeing Aizen's plan through to the end. An end that would likely be the death of them. The soul reapers saw hollows as animals to be slaughtered the moment they proved a nuisance to the precious souls of humans and other soul reapers. Aizen didn't seem the type to bond with even his fellow soul reapers- he _had_ started a war with them- so his hollow army was a tool and nothing more. They were expendable. There were no guarantees of surviving the war no matter how loyal they were.

"It was the logical decision." He could not see why she sounded disappointed that he had made the decision that prolonged his life. "Even you had noticed that fighting against Lord Aizen would have been pointless. If you had chosen to defy him, you would be dead," he added, it a subtle warning to her because her continued display of her distaste for Lord Aizen would get her killed if she kept it up. She saw the warning, however, as a challenge.

"Yeah, well, I don't know if being here is much better than being dead." Aracelis stood up, placing a hand on her hip before she continued with her defiant tone. "I'd rather _not_ be working with some soul reaper prick like Aizen."

Once again, she instantly regretted her words. The room fell absolutely silent as he stared her down, his cold glare freezing her in place, her blood turning to ice. This… this was a thousand times worse than when he had outright used his spiritual pressure to threaten her. His expressionless features did nothing to hide the ire his eyes revealed. It was terrifying. She was fairly certain he would kill her. And she couldn't move with how scared she was. She just had to stare back at him with a look of horror.

"You will be respectful towards Lord Aizen." His voice raised, his anger getting the better of him for once. She just didn't understand her position no matter how obvious it was. He shouldn't need to explain something so damn simple to her like she was a child. "The fact he is a soul reaper is irrelevant; he is our leader. You will serve him faithfully, carrying out whatever orders he gives you. Should you continue to be defiant, I shall kill you myself," he blatantly threatened, knowing that anything less wouldn't make it through her thick skull.

Whatever shock he had had at her sudden reappearance earlier had subsided. He needed to make her understand that he had power over her now, that she could no longer shout out whatever she pleased. More importantly, she needed to recognize that he outranked her and that she would need to obey his orders without questioning him at every point. Her demands meant nothing; there was no need for him to listen to her wishes.

"Do you understand, Aracelis?" he directly asked, waiting for an answer. She needed to understand that subservience would mean her survival. For now, he would threaten her through words, but, should she prove difficult, he would resort to physical means.

Aracelis opened her mouth, her voice refusing to cooperate under his gaze. He meant every word of what he said. Without a doubt, he would kill her if she stepped out of line. She'd been stupid to think otherwise. Even if it hadn't been his intention to kill her all those years ago, that didn't mean he wouldn't do it now. They were hollows, the past... The past didn't matter to anyone except her. She couldn't stop him from killing her, either. This was no longer a matter of him being just a bit stronger. He could destroy her in one blow. Maybe even just with his spiritual pressure.

She was subject to his will.

"I…" She finally tore her eyes away from his, focusing on the less threatening floor. "I understand. I'm sorry." The apology had slipped out before she could stop herself. Immediately she frowned, not understanding why the hell she'd said it. Had she been that damn scared? Or did she just not like the fact she had pissed him off to the point he might decide she had no more worth to him? That prospect shouldn't have bothered her as much as it did.

He said nothing in response, but her sincere apology had been unexpected. This was the first time he had heard her take that tone. Even she seemed confounded by her response as she scowled at the ground. If he had scared her that easily, perhaps she would not be as much of a problem as he had first assumed. Of course, she was Aracelis, and she never made things simple.

Aracelis eventually broke the tense silence, trying to return to the more relaxed mood before she had opened her damn mouth. "I guess that's about all I need to know, seeing as how I'm a lowly Fracción and not an Espada." Despite trying to make it a joke, her voice was stiff and forced. She paused, swallowing the rest of her nerves. "That does mean I don't have to do anything, right? Like I just get to sit around, yell at the weaker Arrancar and servants?"

"That is partially correct."

"Really?" Aracelis smiled slightly, completely missing the 'partially' in his response. "Huh, and here I thought I would have to actually do something; I much prefer sitting around, doing my own thing. I mean, who's the poor fool that has to deal with all the servants? That has to be absolutely terrible. There is no way they are all working together like a happy family. They probably hate being around so many other hollows that boss them around." She would have went on, but she noticed he didn't stop her from rambling for once. "Ulquiorra?" came her nervous response, a sinking feeling setting in.

"I am the 'poor fool' that is charged with keeping the servants in line."

For a second she just gave him a wide eyed stare. "Ulquiorra," she then whined, recognizing what this likely meant for her. "Please tell me you have other Fracción and it won't just be me and you in charge of all of the hollows in Las Noches."

There were dozens of servants. Hell, she probably didn't even sense them all because there had to be some with comparatively no spiritual pressure. There had to be fights; you didn't just stick a bunch of cannibalistic monsters into a building –no matter how large- and expect them to get along. Trying to keep them under control had to a terrible job. Fear only went so far to keep idiotic lesser hollows behaved- and only worked if they gave a damn about their lives. She probably wouldn't be able to kill them all, either. They may be replaceable, but it would still be a pain to _actually_ replace them.

"Do not ask stupid questions. Had Lord Aizen not ordered me to take you as a Fracción, I would not have."

"Wow, thanks. Didn't know you liked me that much," Aracelis muttered.

It had been a stupid question, though. He barely tolerated her. He was never one to keep company, preferring solitude and quiet. It was surprising he had accepted a position that required him to supervise a bunch of hollows; not that she doubted he could manage it. He scared her, so the wimps called servants would obey just to _maybe_ not get destroyed. Not that his coldness towards her bothered her any less with all that in mind. He could at least pretend they had once been sort-of friends.

"Did you volunteer to do this?" she quickly asked to cover up her foolish emotions.

Of course he didn't.

"Lord Aizen recognized I would be the most capable for the task, and appointed me to do so," he answered, not missing her disapproving look.

He had been the most levelheaded of the Espada at the time, and still was. Harribel and Grimmjow –not that he would have been a viable option- had been Números. Had it been left to Starrk, nothing would have gotten done. Baraggan had always had others doing the work for him, but also refused because his dislike of Aizen, saying the job was below him. Szayelaporro killed enough in experiments as is. Nnoitra barely tolerated his own Fracción.

"Sounds like you were suckered into it because no one else wanted to," Aracelis grumbled, rolling her eyes at him. At that point, she let herself tip backwards to flop back onto the bed. "So," she sighed, staring at the ceiling, "what eternal hell have I been subjected to? Playing glorified babysitter for all the little children, I mean hollows, so they play nice together?"

"Your dramatics are unnecessary," he began, earning an incredulous look from Aracelis, "but that is essentially an accurate description of what you will be doing." After waiting a few seconds for her to finish giggling and her muttering that he 'agreed his job was terrible,' he continued. "I have decided that you will handle a portion of the discipline, so long as you do not create too many unnecessary casualties." That was the only point he felt necessary to stress. The rest would be fairly natural to her; she had never shown any aversion to beating lesser hollows that tested her patience or authority. Even he, whom she apparently liked, hadn't escape that- of course she had asked him permission to 'fight' before actually going after him. She deemed him the only one that received preferential treatment from her. "Your main duty will simply be monitoring the servants. As such, you will be allowed to wander where you please if you avoid confrontation with the other Espada and Números. I will not come rescue you from your own stupidity. Should any prove uncooperative or defiant, you may kill them at your discretion."

"Sounds annoying, but you won't let me just sit around, will you?" Her pleading look was completely ignored as he waited for her to just accept the order. "Fine," she said, giving in. At least she could kill them if they made her mad; if he asked her to only give them a 'stern talking to' she would have argued more.

After a few silent seconds, she thought of another question to ask. "Hey, can you tell me the names and ranks of the Espada?" She caught the slight nod he gave her, so she sat up to actually have a decent conversation. "What's your rank?"

"I am the Fourth."

"Impressive," she muttered while nodding her head a few times. Her guess of him being high ranked had been accurate, then. "So, cat?" She laughed when he just stared at her. "Grimm-something? Just the name. Hard to miss the rank when it's tattooed on him."

"Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," he answered, eyebrow slightly raised. "You have met him before?"

"Eh… Sort of…" Aracelis swallowed nervously, knowing that if Grimmjow recognized her, there would be hell to pay. Might as well tell Ulquiorra in hopes he would protect her. "I had had a _minor_ altercation with him when he was an Adjucha. He _might_ be a _bit_ upset if he remembers. He doesn't seem the forgiving type." His lack of response made her give up on asking him to protect her. He already told her that her own stupidly wouldn't be his problem if he could help it.

"So, moving on, then," she began again, getting back on track. "Weirdly tall and incredibly rude?"

He stared at her, her descriptions… interesting to say the least.

"Collar the size of the room?" she added.

"Nnoitra Gilga, ranked fifth. Avoid him."

"Already planned on that," she said with a nod. He hadn't seemed like someone she would want to associate with anyway. Most really be a piece of work if Ulquiorra outright told her to stay away from him. "So, weird head under a mask-looking thing?"

"Arrieniero Arrururie. Ninth."

"Sleepy guy and green-haired girl?"

"Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck, the two ranked first."

"Number one? The both of them? Really? Huh," she shrugged, "wouldn't've guessed that. Large idiot that doesn't-"

"Yammy Llargo, ranked tenth," he interrupted, this the one description that made perfect sense to him.

"You mad at him?" Aracelis snickered before her cheerfulness tapered off. "You didn't want me to the point you're holding a grudge against him too, huh?" She sighed when he didn't deny it. "Quiet, spikes on his head?"

"Zommari Rureaux, seventh."

"Harribel and Baraggan's ranks?"

"Third and second, respectively."

With a laugh she said, "Baraggan must be pissed off, not being number one anymore." The hollow king was king no more, his arrogance all for naught. It was curious that Harribel had ranked higher than Ulquiorra, though. She couldn't see the hollow so concerned with working together to avoid the sacrifice of others being more powerful than Ulquiorra with his cold disregard for much of everything.

"What do the other Espada do all day?" That would be her final question. Hopefully the rather unimportant, information-based questions following her earlier actions would completely erase the tension, even if it were just a slight relief. She sadly had a knack for creating awkwardness between them. Not that he helped matters.

"If they are not in meetings with Lord Aizen, they are training or resting."

"Seriously?" She said in exasperation. "You really did get suckered into it." Sounded like the rest of the Espada literally sat around all day waiting for Aizen to tell them what to do. How _lucky_ she got stuck with the one Espada that actually had to _do_ something. It sounded boringly repetitive to stop stupid hollows from killing each other when that is what hollows lived for.

She… She was still stupidly happy to be around him again, though. That damn attachment to him would get her killed yet- possibly by him. That prospect… She didn't like it anymore. Before she had accepted that he would inevitably kill her because hollows didn't have friends. Knowing that he hadn't meant to kill her that time made her naively want to believe that maybe there was hope she was wrong, that he had actually been her mutual friend in the pit that was Hueco Mundo.

"I have one final order for you," Ulquiorra stated, drawing her from whatever she was thinking over. Whatever it had been had made her stare at the floor silently, a frown over her features. Her look of solemn concentration bothered him.

"What is it?" Aracelis asked nervously, almost having missed his words.

"Refrain from breaking things." He glanced over his shoulder to the door frame, it an already prime example. "Should I find you responsible for the damage, you will be fixing it yourself with no assistance from the servants."

"Why? I bet everyone else gets to break things."

"You lack restraint, and I do not want you breaking things merely to entertain yourself."

"Would I do that?"

"Yes." His answer came bluntly as soon as Aracelis's stopped speaking. Her reaction was amusing as she opened and closed her mouth, attempting to make a retort but knowing full well that she _would_ do such a thing.

"Fine," she grumbled in defeat. "I'll try not to. Just know that if someone pisses me off, they will be sent through the wall. Or several."

She watched as he gave a slight nod, satisfied with her answer despite her additional clause. Instead of leaving her, like she expected him to do, he walked forward and past the bed to the window. With one tug the curtains were fully parted to show the familiar black sky. When he glanced back at her, she tilted her head curiously.

"Follow."

Before she had a chance to ask 'why' he jumped out the window. After staring at the window blankly for a second, she stood up, laughing under her breath. The large window had in fact been made for jumping out of. When she reached the opening she glanced downwards to gauge where the ground was before blindly leaping out of what she had presumed to be a tower. Several dozen stories down she saw the speck of black amongst the white, his hair the only thing decently visible at the distance.

She leapt out to join him, plummeting incredibly fast before she slowed her fall down to land, the sand barely disturbed beneath her feet. Out of curiosity, she glanced upwards. Like the rest of Las Noches, the sheer scale of the tower was equal parts awe inspiring and ridiculous. The place screamed 'Look at how impressive I am for no other reason than to gloat!' Had to have been the soul reapers' idea.

"So, why'd we come out here?"

"Part of my orders was to train you."

"Oh." Then it hit her what training meant. "Oh no," she muttered anxiously, already looking down at her hip to confirm she even had her sword with her. When was the last time she even fought someone, in training or not? That last Adjucha barely counted as an opponent. And now she had the fourth Espada expecting her to put up a decent practice fight.

"Is there a reason you are so frantic?"

"Of course not!" she snapped back. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Then flare your spiritual pressure."

"All right," she groaned, ready to comply and start what would be a tiresome training session, she was sure.

"What?" Her brows furrowed. Had she been repressing her spiritual pressure this entire time? It certainly hadn't been a conscious effort because she had absolutely no idea she had been doing it. She should have. It took incredible concentration to reign back spiritual pressure to the point it became essentially undetectable. Especially for a Vasto Lorde ranked Arrancar because they just had so much of it.

At her clear confusion he gave an unnoticed sigh. "You hadn't been aware you were hiding your spiritual pressure," he stated, letting her know that he had noticed it long before she had. He expected as much. Aracelis with her lapses in observational skills continued to astound him. Such a strange hollow. How she had survived for such a long time was nothing short of a miracle.

"Hey, you know what Ulquiorra?" She pointed a finger at him. "I've been through a lotta crap today. I don't need you sassing me for missing one minor detail."

"I would hardly call that a minor detail."

"Now you are just trying to make me upset." He was baiting her. She didn't need him to say anything more to know that he was purposefully trying to rile her up now. Probably thought it would get her to fight him. And he would be correct. Like usual.

With that, she did as she was told and flared her spiritual pressure as much as she could. The release of energy sent out a small shockwave that displaced the white sand around them. She waited for her next instructions with her arms crossed over her chest and eyes focused on horizon, overly aware that he was analyzing every aspect of her spiritual pressure. The glance she risked showed his eyes were narrowed. That either meant he had noticed something interestingly bizarre or he was completely unimpressed. She guessed it was the latter.

"Draw your sword and attack. Do not hold back."

She didn't need to be told twice. The sound of her sword being unsheathed was cut short as she immediately used sonido to lunge at him. He merely watched as her blade swung downwards. Just when she thought she would land a blow he took a fraction of a step back, the movement so fast she almost missed it. Aracelis retreated, not knowing if he intended to strike back, not wanting to find it out the hard way.

Her next several attacks proved just as effective as the first, directly swinging at him not working at all. He could dodge simply by leaning out of the way or moving out of the way just enough that her attack would miss. It was pathetic how she couldn't even get close to hitting him with the blade. So she changed her strategy to 'screw using the sword.' She hated the stupid thing anyway.

He caught her look of frustration giving away to a smile, noting that she still broadcast her thoughts across her face during battle. Despite her flying at him with sonido he easily followed the movement, ready to repeat the process of dodging her with minimal effort, it making him wonder how she had ever managed to hit him in the past. Even if he had become indescribably more powerful since then, her skills actually seemed to have digressed like she was out of practice. It made him wonder just how much time she had spent in the human world lazing about.

When she arrived in front of him she predictably aimed a slash for his shoulder. As he stepped to the side she landed next to him to swing horizontally. Thoroughly unimpressed, he decided he had seen enough of her abysmal attacks to grab her sword and show her how unbelievably predictable she was being.

And as soon as he had a grip on her sword, she let go. Surprised with the sudden development, she had just enough time to jump up and lean her entire weight into aiming a kick at his head. Not particularly wanting her foot crashing into his face, he used his other hand to grab her ankle to stop her momentum. As she fell to the ground she gave out a surprised squeak, laying in the sand dumbfounded, her ankle still gripped by his hand.

However, before he could comment on the foolishness of willingly handing away her sword, he saw her grin. And the blue glow. A bala exploded through the air, a few strands of his hair cut off as they had not moved out of the way soon enough. She pushed herself off of the ground, nearly contorting her body in attempt to kick his chin. His arm twitched to use her sword to cut into her leg, the hesitance almost letting her land a blow. Instead he swung her to the side, releasing his hold on her ankle so she flew the air and then face-first into the sand.

She stood back up, spitting out sand and rubbing it out of her eyes. The red smudges left on her hands told her that her slide through sand had cut up her face. Of course such minor scrapes healed near instantaneously, but still. She hated getting her face scratched up. As she turned back around to face him, she caught him stabbing her sword into the ground, abandoning it.

Then he disappeared. She panicked, eyes frantically searching for him before he inevitably hit her. Stretching her skill with pesquisa to the absolute limit allowed her to at least see his blurred form in front of her. Instinctually she leaned to the side while raising her arm in a sad attempt to block. His hand met the side of her arm, an audible 'crack' heard as her bone snapped in half.

He stared at her with wide eyes as she stumbled back a few steps, clutching her arm while cursing. He hadn't expected her to even follow his movement, let alone have enough time to raise her arm to block. Had she not, he may have broken several ribs, maybe more, instead of just her arm- he had honestly forgot she lacked a thick hierro, and misjudged how much damage his attack would do. She may have not been able to prevent injury by dodging fully, her speed and reaction time… If she learned how to use her sword she would actually be worthy of being called a Número. Not a Fracción, though.

"Did you really need to break my damn arm?" she screeched. She was grateful to see it had already began to heal. Her sporadic regeneration wasn't something she wanted to deal with right now.

After flexing her hand and bending her elbow just to confirm the break had actually mended itself, she looked up to glare at him. Her pupils constricted with the sight of him walking towards her with her sword in hand. Now somewhat afraid of his intentions, she took a step backwards. When he continued to just walk, she relaxed a tiny bit, hoping he meant to return it and nothing more.

Ulquiorra stopped once he was close enough to hand her sword back over to her. She nervously took the blade out of his hand, holding it awkwardly as she waited for him to talk or make a move. Seeing no more point in tossing her around, he decided he only had one more thing to confirm before he truly concluded his assessment of her skill level.

"Release your sword."

"Do what now?" With her one eyebrow raised, she held up her sword to stare at it for a few seconds. "What are you talking about?"

He briefly considered releasing his sword as a quick explanation, but decided that she could possibly pass out from that amount of spiritual pressure, making the demonstration pointless. "It is a zanpakuto, but, unlike a soul reaper's, it allows an Arrancar to regain its true form and full abilities. This release of power is called resurrección. By your reaction, you still have not learned your sword's name nor its command."

"No, I have no idea." She dropped her arm to her side, not wanting to stare at her sword in disappointment. "Is that normal?"

"No. The zanpakuto is a manifestation of your own power. A part of you." He had known the name and command to his sword the moment he set sights on it. Why Aracelis had not continued to be a mystery. For as old as she was, she had a very limited understanding of her own abilities to the point her regeneration was inconsistent, she failed to notice major fluctuations in her own spiritual energy, and she had no inkling to the true power in her sword. He would consider her a complete idiot, but she had managed to perfect her pesquisa and sonido, as well as bala despite not knowing what it was. The inconsistency between her abilities was something he did not understand, and something that he would figure out now that he had the opportunity.

"Is there any way to figure it out? I mean, I'd love to be able to use it." From his description, it sounded like she would get her hollow form back. Her wings. Her tail. Her claws. She'd missed them for centuries. Having them back, even for just a short time, would be fantastic.

He missed her words, still thinking. With the short fight, he had concluded that Lord Aizen most certainly noticed something that he was missing. Why else would he assign Aracelis to someone? Overall, her spiritual pressure wasn't impressive, she couldn't use ressurección, and her swordsmanship was severely lacking. Her only redeeming qualities was her near mastery of pesquisa and sonido, coupled with her skill in hand to hand combat and the use of cero and bala. Nothing too special. The strange energy fluctuations hadn't proven to make her stronger, making the ability rather unimpressive- stealth over power was not the way to win battles. Ulquiorra almost wanted to think the entire thing had been a joke of some sort. Aizen's interest in Aracelis seemed completely unwarranted.

"Ulquiorra, stop ignoring me." She sheathed her sword as she waited for his attention to return to her rather than his thoughts. "Ulquiorra, come on, I'm getting bored of standing here," she added impatiently. Watching him think was like watching a wall. Admittedly a nice looking wall, but still utterly boring. If he actually showed some expressions it might have been more entertaining. "Ulqui-"

His green-eyes met her blue ones, her whining his name coming to an abrupt end. He walked past her, on his way back into Las Noches. For once she caught the cue and fell into step a few feet behind him.

"I will help you familiarize yourself with the layout of Las Noches, as well as the particulars of your duties. Pay attention, do not let your mind wander."

He would not be parading her around Las Noches longer than necessary. The rest of the Espada had most likely –and inaccurately- concluded they had some sort of relationship. Walking around with her in tow would only cement that incorrect idea in their heads. They would try to use her against him in the worst scenario. Disturbingly, it might work. Even after deciding he could physically hurt her, he had hesitated to use her sword against her. That hesitance needed to be gone.

* * *

 **A/N- Wow, that was a lot more than I planned for this chapter. Hopefully I made Aracelis's questions entertaining despite the answers to them already being know. This really ended up being a chapter mainly about the changed power dynamic and set up for… stuff. And I just made up Ulquiorra being in charge of the servants because I think it would be funny, in a way. I mean, he would do a decent job of it considering he doesn't destroy everything and everyone like the rest of the Espada. Couldn't just have Aracelis sitting around, either. Just let me have my fun, sorry if it's sort of ridiculous.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you DeadWolfGirl, Keiren-Kun89, katethecate, chikarubunny, and AssassinaAquila for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Keiern-Kun89- Thank you for following, favoriting, and reviewing! I'm glad you like the story thus far!**

 **haipa-chan- Heh, Grimmjow. Don't worry, I've got plans. And stuff is certainly tense between Ulquiorra and Aracelis, especially when she is so openly opposed to Aizen despite that being a great way of getting herself killed. As for how far away from canon, I have a few events planned before I get to that (which apparently works because there is a month between Rukia's execution and Ulquiorra's and Yammy's arrival in Karakura. Happened across that info while rewatching the anime to put off homework:) So, yeah, at least three if not five-ish chapters from the canon events. As always, thank you so much for reviewing again!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Wahhhh, so much loves! Thank you! I'm happy to hear that you enjoy this so much. Their relationship** _ **is**_ **rather complicated because they are both hollows that just don't quite understand what is going on- to the point of confusion. I hope Ulquiorra's reaction had been a pleasant surprise; I wanted him to almost be flustered because he knows that he treats her different and doesn't understand why (and I thought it was funny that he just left because he didn't want to answer, couldn't help myself). Glad I added in the cutesy caress on a whim, though. Had to sneak in some happy before they started screaming at each other. Thank you so much for continuing to review! Glad to have you around!**

 **-AwkwardBlackCat**


	12. Chapter 12- Mission Start

Aracelis stomped her foot down again, the Arrancar under foot involuntarily grunting as his face smashed farther into the tiled floor. Off to the side she heard one gasp in surprise, the other two remaining quiet as they indifferently watched their fellow servant being beat into the floor. At least one seemed to understand that she was now in charge.

"Do you really think you can just run around, smashing apart the place, when you get into a spat with another damn idiot?" she hissed out through gritted teeth. "Huh? You think you get to do whatever the hell you want? That there's no consequences?"

The Arrancar forced out a half-laugh through the pain of tenuously holding onto a single scrap of remaining life. He earned another stomp into the ground for it. His mask shattered under the abuse, the Arrancar barely holding back a pained screech as shards scattered about the floor.

She was completely and utterly frustrated with the damn servants, the one under her foot only one of many. Three days in and she was done with their crap. None of them listened to her. Worse, she was a damn joke to them. A few of them had the guts to outright _tell_ her that they wouldn't listen to some woman. They were slashed in half before they had time to say another word. When she tried to order a few around they ignored her. Their blood was quickly spattered across the white ground. Two she sent through a wall because they wouldn't stop fighting each other when she ordered them to do so, both dead from near-disintegrated bones. One had foolishly attacked her outside, it incinerated in a cero before it got anywhere close to hitting her. Despite the ten plus she killed, with witnesses, she wasn't worthy of respect or fear by reputation. Apparently the rest were just too stupid to catch that she wouldn't tolerate their insubordination.

Didn't help that the Espada were all cooped up in meetings with Aizen the last two days. The moment the Espada left, the servants thought it was a damn free-for-all because she just wasn't scary enough. Now, Ulquiorra, they were terrified of him. It had been hilarious when he had shown her around Las Noches because the servants either ran away the second they sensed Ulquiorra, or they just became bumbling, quaking fools as they attempted to go about their work. One had tripped and fallen flat on their face because they were trying to speed-walk the opposite direction while their knees knocked hopelessly together in fear. Too bad they didn't react to her that way. That would be endlessly entertaining. And less frustrating.

With all she had already killed, she was unsure how many more would be counted 'necessary' casualties. The last thing she wanted to do was piss off Ulquiorra. Not when she had managed to get back on what she assumed was his good side- he hadn't threatened her with death recently, at least. If she wasn't careful she would be the one on the ground in a bloody heap, though.

That was the only reason the one squirming beneath her foot still breathed. She wanted to kill him. She should kill him. But that doubt in the back of her mind, it kept her from finishing off the defiant Arrancar. If this was the one that pushed her into the bounds of being in trouble herself…

 _Oh, just kill the bastard already._ The biting tone of her instinct decided it was time to intervene with her deliberations. _Do you honestly think such a disobedient whelp should be kept alive after directly disobeying orders? Keeping him alive will kill whatever fear and respect you've garnered with these idiots._

Well, yeah, but she already knew that. Her instinct literally ignored that making Ulquiorra mad would be worse than-

 _Quit worrying about him. If he's as intelligent as he was in the past, he will recognize that you will need to eliminate any who disrespect you until you establish that you are not someone to be messed with. I'm getting irritated. Just kill the stupid thing already._

"You too afraid to kill me?" the shaking voice of the Arrancar asked, reaching a hand up in a sad attempt to remove her foot from his face. "You're such a pathetic bi-"

Blood spattered across the floor, the wave accompanied by the sickening crunch of bone under foot and the muted screech of one of the onlookers. She stepped over the body into the growing red puddle on the ground.

Without turning, she addressed the three other servants. "You really should start listening to me." After dragging her feet a few steps to rub off some of the blood from her shoes, she paused to glance over her shoulder. "Be sure to clean up that damn mess or I'll add you to it."

With that, she resumed stalking down the hall, ready to find the next problem that she needed to deal with.

 _See, that wasn't hard, was it? Just keep killing them and-_

"Shut up," she grumbled. There was no way she was about to listen to her instinct gloat about being right for the next hour. She hoped the stupid voice would keep quiet because blocking it out took more concentration than she wanted to use on such a ridiculous thing.

Damn voice needed to go away again. She'd enjoyed its relative silence when she had been sitting around the human world. After a while it had given up on trying to convince her to go back to Hueco Mundo, especially if she fed off hollows occasionally to placate its demands. Now it had returned with more attitude and aggravation than ever. Ordering her around… Man was it annoying to be nagged by her own instinct. Made her wonder if other hollows had to put up with such a thing, or if their instincts just naturally coincided with what they wanted to do. If she wanted to do something it would occasionally show up to yell at her to do the opposite or just berate her for her own stupidity while she went about her business. It was like a damn flea was trying to order around a dog.

She crossed her arms over her chest, continuing down another non-descript hall in the white prison of Las Noches. Honestly, she just wanted to go outside for a bit. And not to the fake sky on the dome ceiling, either. The eternally dark night sky at least allowed her the delusion of not being stuck in a soul reaper ruled palace amuck with obnoxious hollows. Hard to believe it was only day four-she didn't count however long she'd been unconscious after the Hogyoku- with how done she felt with the place. She would go insane if she-

Her balance was thrown off as she collided with something reminiscent of a wall. As she tipped backwards, however, she met green eyes. Before she could fall completely, he grabbed her wrist, roughly jerking her back to her feet. Without a word Ulquiorra began pulling her along with his hand still trapping her wrist.

"Did you have to do that?" she whined half-heartedly, distracted. He appeared to be in somewhat of a hurry. Why else would he decide to just drag her along instead of waiting for her to figure out she was supposed to follow like he usually did? "Can't just appear in front of someone without warning. Did you know running into you is like running face first into a brick wall?"

No response. He just kept on walking, either ignoring her or caught up in his own thoughts. For once, she actually thought he was distracted. His grip on her wrist remained. By now he would have usually released his hold because she got the memo to follow- the extended physical contact was weird for him.

Not that she minded much. He wasn't crushing her wrist so there was no real reason to protest. Anyone else, though, and she knew she would have freed herself by now no matter if that meant taking off a hand. He would always be her exception to her self-made, hollow rules of conduct. Obviously he had a similar exception for her because she was still alive after repeatedly getting on his nerves with her 'nonsensical behavior' and her 'irritating tendency to ask questions endlessly.'

Even after a few more corridors' worth of walking, he stayed quiet. Whatever he had in mind, he seemed to be leading her outside.

"Ulquiorra, where are we going?" Anything but sword training. The last two times he had attempted to teach her how to use her sword had resulted once in her nearly losing an arm, the other with her sword a fraction away from being broken in half. She was beginning to believe she frustrated him immensely with how bad she was with her sword. She wouldn't mind simply sparring though; that'd actually be fun, like the old days. "Ulquiorra?"

"We are leaving Las Noches to-" he began, only to have her interrupt.

"Really?" She didn't hide her excitement. "What are we doing?" Despite there being a zero percent chance, she wanted him to say they were escaping. But, even if she knew that wasn't the case, being away from the grand prison would do.

He turned his head just enough to give her a sideways glance for her interruption. Had she kept quiet, he would be done explaining already. At that point he noticed he still held her wrist captive, dropping his hand to return in to his pocket before explaining what was going on to his overly zealous subordinate.

"Lord Aizen has given us a task. Two days ago, a large settlement of hollows reluctant to Lord Aizen's rule was located. I have elected to take you along."

He was hesitant to leave her in Las Noches, especially because Harribel would also be a part of this operation. If Aracelis was left without someone familiar, it became likely that she would grow bored and seek out trouble. With her, she would pick a fight with an Espada, getting herself killed with her idiocy. Bringing her into battle would likely be safer considering her tendencies.

He had resolved to keep her alive until he figured out the exact reason for her conflicting skills and odd spiritual energy. Certainly he did not do this out of concern for her well-being. At least he had convinced himself of such. Once he learned what he wanted, she became completely expendable, especially if her abilities were proven useless. He would allow her to get herself killed in whatever way she managed in that event. If anything he should kill her himself considering all of the problems she caused for him, his reduced judgment when around her one such issue.

"Our goal is to locate any hollows with useful abilities," he continued, "and to eliminate those I deem worthless."

"What ranks are we going after? Can't imagine that you've missed Vasto Lorde with how much time Ai… Lord Aizen has been creating this army." No one escaped conscription. Even she had eventually been drawn back to Hueco Mundo to end up a part of the mess. They'd also managed to find Ulquiorra. It was hard to imagine any other Vasto Lorde going about undetected.

"Adjuchas are what we will focus on bringing back, although the number of Guillian far exceeds the number of Adjuchas," he answered plainly, mission information something he didn't mind answering because it was important for her to know. Her trivial questions had a tendency of growing tiring, however. "I doubt any of the Guillian will prove useful; feel free to kill them at your discretion."

"Sweet," Aracelis muttered to herself happily. Perhaps a killing spree would lighten her mood a bit. It had been a long time since she had torn a mass of hollows apart for the hell of it. "Is this the last little rebel group, then?" Couldn't many of those left either. Aizen probably had rebellions quashed as soon as he became aware of any that could potentially cause any sort of problem to his plans. The final group of rebellious hollows were likely all that remained of the other groups.

"Presumably."

"Nice. That means they'll have a bunch of them gathered together as one final resistance against soul reaper rule." It'd be fun. For her. For the Guillian, not so much.

The Adjuchas probably had every Guillian they could find with them, the lower ranked not really having much of a choice. It was either follow the Adjuchas or follow Aizen, and they choose the natural response of 'soul reapers are the enemy and to be subjugated by them was both pathetically weak and utterly disgraceful.' If they placed any value of their lives, however, they would switch sides as soon as they saw Ulquiorra. The Espada were terrifying with how powerful they were.

But hollows were stubborn and prideful. Taking the Adjuchas alive and in working order would actually be quite annoying now that she thought about it. Killing was so much easier than recruiting the wholly unwilling. After the initial fight they'd have to drag them all the way back to Las Noches, too.

"Are we the only ones going?" she asked on that thought.

It'd be impractical for two people, no matter how strong, to bring back a group of rowdy, reluctant hollows. Time consuming as well considering that the hollows wouldn't even begin to match Ulquiorra's, or even her, speed. Regrettably, Aizen wasn't an idiot. He wanted this operation done with efficiency; why else send Ulquiorra and not someone else? Ulquiorra wouldn't dally. He'd also recognize a useless hollow from one with an ounce of potential. He had an unfortunate eye for assessing the skill levels of others; in two attempts of trying to train her he'd told her exactly what she was bad at down to the minutest detail, like a foot a fraction out of stance. It wouldn't be efficient to just send Ulquiorra, and by default, her.

"Harribel and her Fracción shall arrive after I complete my initial assessment of the hollows." That is why it irritated him when he had to hunt Aracelis down. They needed to leave before Harribel, arrive on location, and pick through the hollows before she caught up. While Harribel was clearly capable fighter, she-

"Oh, I get it. Harribel would want to keep them all, or at least try to. You'll sift through the garbage to find the talent, then ditch the trash instead of dragging it along with us back here." She held back a laugh when he slightly tensed with irritation towards her essentially calling him a dumpster diver. "Lord Aizen just wants the worthwhile ones, after all. That's why he's sending you, with all your analytics and reasoning skills." She paused for a second, adding as an afterthought, "Just thought I'd ask because I didn't want to drag back all of those hollows with just the two of us."

Perhaps she would have a chance to speak with Harribel finally. The last few days she had been in meetings or on opposite sides of Las Noches, surrounded by her obnoxious trio. Aracelis hadn't had the chance to ask Harribel if she'd figured out Ulquiorra was who she had been looking for, or how she ended in Aizen's army, or a bunch of random things, actually. They could have a decent conversation with all of the crap Aracelis wanted to know with the added bonus of not bothering Ulquiorra with all of her 'inconsequential' questions.

They turned another corner, Aracelis remembering that a staircase leading outside would be coming up soon. It'd taken no time to clear a lot of the twisting, nonsensical halls with the pace they were going.

"Are we in a rush or something?"

Ulquiorra fought sighing. She'd done it again. "You are suppressing your spiritual pressure."

After a second of being taken aback that he blatantly ignored her question, she began arguing. "I am… not…" she trailed off. She hadn't even noticed, nor did she know when she'd done it. Before the Hogyoku, she swore she had more control than this. Whatever that stupid gem had done had made her seem like an unobservant idiot. She was good at reading and sensing spiritual energy, so why the hell her own had suddenly become a secret to her pissed her off to no end.

"You need to be aware of this before it becomes a further inconvenience. I was forced to waste time tracking you down because your own ineptness. Had I not come across that Arrancar you killed, I would likely have left you behind instead of wasting more time looking for you."

He shouldn't have bothered with her, but, in order to test a new hypothesis, he needed to get her away from Las Noches. The need for this only became more obvious with her disappearing act. When around other hollows, the distortion of energy around her lessened or strengthened accordingly to mask her own completely. With the weaker hollows' spiritual pressures, she became a void entity as she drew in all of the radiant energy, a near undetectable distortion forming. Around him, he noticed that she could not draw in all of the energy, leaving a secondary trace of spiritual pressure surrounding her that was definitively his. No matter what, however, her own spiritual pressure seemingly disappeared unless she made a conscious effort to spike it. If he got her away from all of the spiritual energy present in Las Noches, he could see how far this effect stretched, perhaps isolating her signature with less interference.

She muttered "Sorry," under her breath despite actually being sincere about apologizing. "I honestly don't remember hiding my spiritual pressure. I understand that I can't keep using that excuse, either."

It was becoming frustrating for the both of them. She hadn't noticed that she had somehow managed to hide her spiritual pressure to the extent _Ulquiorra_ had problems finding her. It'd annoyed him, too. For him to not be able to do something… She was surprised he had admitted to it. It had to be a sign he was completely done with her inability. She didn't like that. She… She didn't want him to think of her as an inconvenience not worth his time.

She smiled to herself. How absolutely pathetic she was. Letting herself be controlled by such a human sentiment as wanting to be liked while having zero control over her own hollow abilities. Her priorities were completely screwed up.

After a few silent moments of walking, and as they reached the stairs leading outside, she hesitantly asked, "You're… um… not mad about how many servants I've killed, right?" He had found the most recent mess, apparently. If anything, she just wanted to know how many more she could kill before she stepped out of his graces and into punishment.

For a few seconds the question hung in the air unanswered, the sound of their footsteps as they went up the stairs echoing in the narrow stairwell. Just as she opened her mouth to add excuses to her defense, he simply stated, "No."

"R-really?" she stuttered in surprise, her brows pushing together. "Damn, and here I thought I'd been on an unauthorized murder spree. Did you know this would happen?"

"I did expect this result. It will take time for them to recognize your authority over them. Until they learn to fear you, deaths are inevitable." He paused before adding, "The process would be shorter if you stop suppressing your spiritual pressure. Many of them are not intelligent enough to see that you are doing such, and likely perceive you as weak."

"I… I guess that might be part of the problem, huh?" What an embarrassing problem. She hadn't even considered that she would outwardly appear weak without her spiritual energy hanging about her as a show of power. Without that threat she must've seemed like a very regular human. What else had no spiritual pressure? She definitely needed to deal with this sooner rather than later. If she didn't she would remain a joke of a hollow. No wonder Ulquiorra didn't want her as a Fracción. She was a walking disaster of incompetency and idiocy.

 _I told you he wouldn't care._ Instinct chimed in, using this as another moment to brag.

She could only mouth 'shut up' to the stupid voice, in no mood for additional taunting.

They reached the top of the stairs a few minutes later, the moonlight overhead almost bright after traveling through the darkened stairway. After taking a few steps out in the sand, Ulquiorra stopped to glance over his shoulder at Aracelis.

"I will leave you behind should you prove too slow to follow."

With that half-warning, he disappeared from sight, already speeding away. Aracelis panicked for a fraction of a second before launching herself through the air using sonido, determined to show him she could keep up and that she wasn't as useless as she was making herself seem lately. She caught up enough to see his back, maintaining a bit of distance in case he suddenly decided to stop. She'd call the pace a fraction more rigorous than leisurely, but this was a battle of endurance considering the distance they would have to cover. A rebel group could only survive far away from Aizen and the Espada, but, even then, they wouldn't live for long.

The merry trip to kill and capture had begun.

* * *

 **A/N- A day late and less than I planned, but it is done! Never procrastinate doing a 12 page research paper, it's not fun doing that in two days. I hope that the two talking isn't overly boring because that has been the last few chapters… I'm getting back to the action soon, I swear. The idea of going after rebel hollow settlements is from Nel and Nnoritra's past, so I decided to use it here. Just because I'm not sure if I'll get to use it, Aracelis is Arrancar 57.**

 **And is Ulquiorra still in character? He's done a lot of talking lately, so… idk. His interest in Aracelis's abilities make sense to me because he seemed quite interested in Ichigo's abilities, but I could be wrong. Any feedback would help.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you LightFun27, Krystalana, and MarishkaTheUnderdog for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Yeah, I planned to do much more with that training last chapter, but because of time I didn't. At the same time, it makes sense because Aracelis is lot weaker in comparison, especially with her problems, so I was happy with it. Last chapter definitely focused on how they thought of each other, that's for sure. Thank you for reviewing again! (And I'm glad that you thought Ulquiorra running instead of answering was amusing despite it being something very odd for him to do.)**

 **haipa-chan- Yeah, he's just so confused about her skills, to the point he'll make it an excuse to keep her around. And, as for Aizen, he knows more about Aracelis than Aracelis does, especially capability-wise. He did find her, after all. And, you know, he's Aizen, so he knows everything, apparently. Aracelis was in the human world for like, 100 years-ish, sort of during the time after the Visored were made and before Rukia's execution (I never did quite make a specific timespan because Aracelis wouldn't have an idea herself honestly- and I'm lazy). I love questions. Thank you for reviewing again!**


	13. Chapter 13- Warm-Up

Hueco Mundo hadn't changed. Aracelis figured as much, considering the stagnancy of the hollow world. The only change had come with soul reapers. Hardly any hollows wandered about the open, instead cowering in what shadows could be found in the random rock formations or frail crystal trees. The hollows scurried away as soon as they sensed the spiritual pressure of Arrancar, the fact one was an Espada probably sending them into a fearful panic. She would have found it funny, but it only reminded her how subjugated the hollows were to the soul reapers and their enhanced army of Arrancar.

The hours of travel had been silent and boring with the lack of incidences, the white sand and repetitive landscape mind-numbing. She didn't have anything to talk about, either. Not that now was an opportune time as they rocketed across the ground with sonido. That left her with her boring thoughts or considerations on how much the soul reapers' control of Hueco Mundo irked her. That wasn't something-

She came to a dead stop. Her eyes locked onto a mass of gleaming crystal on the horizon line to her right, the place familiar even if she had only been there once. Knowing full-well she shouldn't be distracted by something so 'trivial' as he would say, she changed direction.

Once she stood in front of the giant crystal tree, she became unsure what made her want to go to it in the first place. Maybe the fact it was one of the few landmarks in Hueco Mundo, considering it certainly was a bizarrely unique mass of spiritual energy and hierro-shredding thorns. The tree seemed smaller as well, making her want to poke about and see if she could find the cause.

Despite Ulquiorra saying that he would leave her behind if she didn't keep up, he had noticed her absence and turned back to find her. With him standing a few feet behind Aracelis and well away from tree, she decided to ramble to break the hours of silence. And maybe try to explain why she had been distracted from the mission.

"I was here before, when I was looking for you," she muttered, reaching towards one of the gnarled branches. She remembered the last time, how her arm had been torn apart when she reached in, so she settled on poking the branch with one finger, avoiding the spiked thorns. "I wanted to see if anything was in it, but decided that it would be a stupid idea because of these thorns. Stuck my arm in and nearly had to tear it off to get it free," she laughed half-heartedly at her stupidity. "I figured that you wouldn't've crawled in there because there's no way out, anyway."

"That would have been foolish," he agreed off-handedly, the statement adequate to mislead her.

The one time she decided to be rational and she had missed him. He wouldn't call the result surprising given it was Aracelis, but, if he believed in such a silly thing as luck, he would consider hers quite poor. She had been so close to finding him, not only standing on the perimeter of the tree, but considering entering it. He doubted that she could have reached where he had been; she would have felt every thorn slashing into her skin, while he had felt nothing. Her stubborn determination wouldn't have helped her much. But, still, had she somehow reached him… He was unsure what would have resulted, although it would be pointless to consider such a thing now. Wistful thinking held no purpose. The past was unchangeable.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say." Aracelis took a step back from the tree, growing bored of poking the branches. She thought about taking her sword just to try hacking away at the tree to see if she could break it, but she knew the answer to that already. Whatever it was made out was harder than a rock, probably on par with the strongest of hierro. While she was sure she could _eventually_ break it, that eventually would take a long time. And she figured she had to be on his nerves by now with her stop. She was surprised he'd humored her for this long.

"You know, this thing's a lot smaller than it used to be. I wonder if something managed to break it apart or something." She looked over her shoulder to see him, hands in his pockets, looking the opposite direction. No matter if he appeared to not be paying attention, she continued. "Do you know if anything happened to it? I mean, I think an Espada or one of the soul reapers are the only ones capable of breaking this thing."

"We have more important things to do than smash apart trees," he said flatly, already turning to leave. "You have wasted enough time here."

Not that this had been her idea, no matter how much to the contrary she believed. He had chosen to pass by the tree knowing that it had been on the way to their mission, the visit eliciting the least suspicion as compared to him disappearing from Las Noches for an hour. Aracelis had been accurate when stating the tree was no longer as large as it had been before Lord Aizen crushed it. However, it had regrown significantly, accumulating a mass spiritual energy. A mass of energy that he could likely use considering the tree had presumably became a part of him after he had overpowered it. That had been what he wished to confirm. If he could access the power stored in the tree it was likely he could transcend the limitations of most other hollows.

Aracelis being drawn to the tree and recognizing the spiritual energy had been a calculated risk. Of course he had guessed she wouldn't notice, especially if he acted with minimal interest. She was exceedingly easy to manipulate sometimes with how much trust she seemed to have in him. Trust was an exploitable weakness.

"Yeah, yeah," Aracelis huffed, rolling her eyes. "But smashing apart a random tree sounds like some busy work that Lord Aizen _would_ send you out to do. I mean, he does have you going out to kill a bunch of weaklings. You're a bit too good for this, honestly," she said as she walked away from the tree and towards him. "You are much stronger than anything we're bound to encounter here. One of the lower ranked Espada could have done this if they weren't gigantic imbeciles."

"Your flattery won't make me forget of your wasting time any sooner."

Immediately she stopped walking, eyes widening. "I-I wasn't… Th-that wasn't… I…" she sputtered, her face beginning to flush. "F-fine, I'm going!" With her eyes focused on the ground, she stomped past him. "You don't need to tease me like that," she grumbled sourly in a poor attempt to hide her embarrassment.

That hadn't been her trying to distract him from being irritated with her. More pathetically she had been paying him a compliment, going a touch too far and nearly fawning over him. In a way it was probably good that he had interrupted her. She could have rambled for a while. Although he certainly didn't need to call it flattery. That just… She didn't like the connotation of the word. Too close to flirting. And she hadn't been flirting. Nope. That was too human even for her. Surely that wasn't what she had been doing… Right?

She threw her arms to her side, face contorting to a silent snarl. He'd done this on purpose. That was the only conclusion she could reach. He knew _exactly_ what he had said and that it would fluster her. That she would be too busy sorting out her thoughts to talk.

"Damn it, Ulquiorra," she whispered to herself, glaring at his back as he had long since taken the lead as they resumed travel. He figured it would get her to be quiet. He must have decided to say screw ordering her around directly because manipulating her would work better. She usually wasn't quick enough to catch it, only figuring out what he'd done until after the fact. Made her wonder just what else he had tricked her into.

If he wanted quiet, then fine. She'd shut up. He didn't need to be so underhanded about it.

* * *

Hours passed by in silence, revealing just how far they had to travel to reach these rebel hollows. The closer they came to the presumed hideout, the greater the concentration of spiritual pressure. They slowed only when one unlucky hollow, a guard most likely, had been singled out and targeted because it was alone.

Within a fraction of a second they stood before the hollow, their sonido undetectable. Had they aimed to kill it right away, it wouldn't have known what it hit it. The hulking hollow with a twisted face and reptilian body nearly screeched as it turned to find two Arrancar staring it down with equally uncaring expressions.

"Who are you?" it boomed, tail swishing behind it to show off a mace-like growth. "Some of that soul reaper's tools?" Saliva dripped off sharpened teeth as it awaited an answer to its obvious question. When it attempted to threaten them with its miniscule spiritual pressure, Aracelis lost it.

"Are you trying to intimidate us?" She cackled, a wicked grin on her face. "That's adorable. Your arrogance must be unfathomable if you think you could even begin to scare us."

"Puny woman," it roared, tail violently smashing into the sand to send up a cloud. "I will tear you apart!"

In a flash she stood in front of the monster, it rearing up as it poorly tried to hide its surprise. "I would like to see you try," she said in a wholly condescending tone. Her smile returned as it roared in rage once more.

As the creature stomped done into the ground, it laughed triumphantly as it thought it had crushed its target in one move. A kick to the back of its head sent it face-first into the ground, it releasing a terrific howl. She stood on back of the hollow's neck, keeping its head pressed into the sand. The only movement she allowed was for it to tilt its face to the side, allowing the monster to hiss out incoherent words as it reverted to primal screams of anger.

"What did you want to ask it?" Aracelis looked to Ulquiorra, who remained passively off to the side, his demeanor not readily showing any objections to her treatment of the weaker hollow.

"Do you have a designated leader?" That was the only fact that had not been reported by the scouting party that had discovered the group. If they knew the leader, taking out that single hollow would likely be enough to end this silly farce the weaker hollows were staging. Not that fighting them would be a challenge. It would just be quicker if they realized how inevitable their deaths were if they refused Lord Aizen's generous offer to become a part of the army instead of dust in the wind.

A feral growl was the hollow's response.

After smashing its head back into the sand, Aracelis glanced back at Ulquiorra for permission. The slightest tip of his head made her smile happily. "Wrong answer," she stated as she looked down at the hollow beneath her.

"Stupid woman, get off of me!" It screeched as it pushed itself off of the ground, not noticing that Aracelis had allowed the action.

It raised a clawed hand before slamming it downwards at her. The creature stared at her in a fearful silence. She caught its hand. With a twitch of her fingers, its bones shattered, hand broken apart as the monster screamed and tried to pull away. One pull and its entire arm was detached, blood pouring from the wound as it clutched desperately at while stumbling away.

"You going to reconsider your answer?" Even if it answered it would be dead. Such a weak, disobedient hollow wasn't worth dragging back to Las Noches. Not when there were some Adjuchas that would at least _maybe_ make a decent Arrancar.

The hollow ignored her as it continued to thrash about, shrieking over its lost arm.

Before finishing off the teetering and screeching hollow, she glanced down at the arm in her hand. It was a weak hollow. But, at the same time, she figured she could gorge on several dozen of them later on to make a decent meal of the bunch. Instinct was nearly screaming at her to eat the stupid hollow after how much energy she drained using sonido across Hueco Mundo. If only to satiate that irritating voice…

After taking a bloody bite of the arm, she tossed it to the side. In a blurred movement she was above the stumbling monster, the creature blind to everything except the pain it was in. The back of her heel slammed into its mask to shatter it apart. With that final blow the hollow faded away to nothingness. With nothing further to do, she took to licking the blood off of her hand absentmindedly, staring into the distance to see how many hollows she could count.

Ulquiorra watched silently, nearly transfixed. He had almost forgotten that she was capable of that level of violence. Seeing the corpses of her disciplined servants had reminded him that she could kill, but witnessing how she battled other hollows again made it all the more clear. Her attitude towards other hollows made sense. It was the only thing about her that made sense. She held no pity for the weak. She demanded them to recognize her as superior, for them to see she held control over them. If they went against her, they were killed. In battle she suddenly became as ruthless as any other hollow. At the same time, she retained a sense of restraint lacked by even some of the Espada as they fought. She had figured out why they went after the hollow without being told, not killing it immediately after it began attacking her, instead subduing it. She even waited until he gave her permission to finish it off. If only she showed that level of obedience all of the time.

It was just strange to see her acting so hollow-like. He had grown used to her behavior around him, which certainly was not how a regular hollow acted. She had always treated him differently. She allotted him a bizarre amount of trust and… And sympathy. Compassion, even. All very human sentiments.

And now, as he watched her try to wipe blood from her face and lick it off of her hand, he was reminded that she was a bloodthirsty hollow with no objection to death so long as it did not concern him. He could appreciate this trait of hers. Should she learn to control her abilities fully, she would be a worthy Fracción. She would be perfe-

Suddenly she was standing in front of him, eyebrow raised as she titled her head to the side. While he was positive he hadn't been making any expressions while watching her, he knew he had been staring fixedly. Gawking, as she would likely call it. She had noticed and now stood in front of him expectantly as she awaited an answer to why he was looking at her with such apparent interest.

"You still eat other hollows." It was odd for a fully evolved, uninjured hollow to continue consuming others. Most likely the act substituted directly absorbing radiant spiritual energy as she had been doing in Las Noches. He had yet to see _why_ she required so much energy, though.

"Yeah, that's um…" She mumbled while looking to the sand for moment. That was the only reason he had been staring, then. How oddly disappointed she felt. He hadn't been…

 _Of course he hadn't been 'checking you out' you damn idiot. You and your human fantasies are the most irritating things I've ever had to deal with. If you think for one damn moment he_ _ **feels**_ _any of this crap you're wrong._

Her face scrunched in response. She could hope, couldn't she? Didn't need damn instinct telling her how annoying she was again; had enough of that when she stayed in the human world.

"It's weird, huh? I sort of figured that out when you became a Vasto Lorde and had no way to eat," she admitted, meeting his gaze again. That extended time alone almost made her forget that normal hollows usually stopped with the whole cannibal thing once they were fully evolved, unless they just enjoyed it. Harribel and Ulquiorra had done just fine without it. She was once again the weird one. "I just got sort of hungry after leaving Las Noches and after all of the sonido we used to get here."

"I don't know why, but I must need to feed off of spiritual energy," she continued, failing to mention that instinct more or less ordered her to eat other hollows constantly. "I wasn't just mindlessly following you this whole time. I noticed that the reason my spiritual pressure keeps getting lost is I'm trying to draw in the energy around me, effectively masking my own beneath it. Since leaving Las Noches, with you suppressing the majority your spiritual pressure, I've noticed my own a lot more."

"You probably already figured that out, though." A glance at his face reveled nothing, but she knew. As soon as they were reunited, that would have been one of the first things he would notice. Just as she had noticed a difference in his own. "I'm just telling you that I've figured it out finally and will be working on controlling it. I know how much you _adore_ searching for me as time ticks by."

He chose not to respond, not seeing any point in it. At least she had become aware of her spiritual energy fluctuations now. If she actually gained control of it would be a different matter, however.

"So…" She began again after he didn't say anything. "If I hypothetically wanted to eat a few of the hollows over there," she pointed over her shoulder to motion to the gathering in the distance, "would you be opposed to that?"

"If they are worthless, then do as you please."

"Neat," she answered with a smile. And, with that, she attempted to turn around to strut off towards her next meals.

However, she found her face being grabbed, his hold on her chin redirecting her gaze directly to his face. Having no idea what the hell was going on she stared in shock and mild horror, wondering if she had somehow managed to anger him. When his face appeared as passive as always, she really began to wonder.

"Do be more aware of your appearance," he commented, using his other hand to rub some blood she had missed off of her chin. He did not need her appearing like a creature incapable of basic hygiene. Not when she was _his_ Fracción. "Running about with blood across your face is quite undignified." While she didn't respond verbally, he could feel her skin heat up as all blood flow seemed to reroute to her face. Her wide-eyed stare neared mortification. He found the reaction rather amusing. "I am not your caretaker," he said, releasing his hold before walking past her.

Aracelis hardly registered the fact he had begun walking away. She just… Her brain… Just what the hell? She couldn't even tell if he had just been messing with her or… Or what? There was no reason for him to do that. He could have just as easily told her to clean the blood off of her face herself instead of doing it himself. And this wasn't like earlier, when he wanted her to shut up. She had been done speaking, ready to leave. He as the one that was 'wasting time' by stopping her to clean her face. How he remained so damn blasé over the exchange didn't help any. She had no idea what he had been thinking.

The more she thought about it, the less she believed it had even happened, honestly.

"D-damn it, Ulquiorra Cifer," she mouthed to herself. "Why are you so confusing?"

"Aracelis."

His voice made her whip around, only to see him continuing to walk away, leaving her behind.

"Follow," he ordered.

After a second more of hesitation, she used sonido to catch up, leaving a few feet between them considering she was unsure what to make of him at the moment. He was already back to ordering her around, otherwise known as his regular self. If she didn't want her brain trying and failing to sort such a stupid thing out while in the middle of fight, she needed to change topics immediately. She could think about this the entire way back if she wanted. And she probably would.

"There are a lot more here than I thought there would be," she began, voice serious as she decided to focus on the task at hand. "A section of the forest is below here; they've got about thirty Menos Grande gathered below. Some other Guillian down there, too." Just to confirm, she squinted into the distance, attempting to pick out the Adjuchas that would be worthwhile with pesquisa. "About, what, twenty Adjuchas, ten that are decently strong?"

He did not add to her assessment, so she figured she was right. Above ground, surrounding the Adjuchas, were dozens, if not hundreds, of weaker spiritual pressures. As it stood, they had managed to form a decent sized army. Numbers weren't that important in the end, though. It all came down to how strong the Adjuchas were, what sort of abilities they had. Not that they would stand a chance against Ulquiorra no matter what.

This would be relatively easy, then.

* * *

 **A/N- Thank you for reading! I swear next chapter won't be all talk. The action shall return, or this wouldn't be a proper Bleach fic.**

 **I'm also considering upping the rating from T to M, but I not sure if it warrants it. Is the violence too much for a rated T story or not? I mean, I might add in a bit more curses, too, because some characters like to cuss, but even then one or two instances doesn't really warrant a rating change, does it? I don't know. I'll probably leave it unless someone really thinks it needs to be M.**

 **Thank you to niteshine, Hexadorah, Gabcik, eve-chan 97, ElenaFromItaly, and katethecate for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Ah, yes, that hollow brutality. Aracelis doesn't appreciate a lack of respect despite being very disrespectful towards people that could kill with the least amount of effort. And I'm sorry, no human world yet- just boring old Hueco Mundo. I don't know if I specifically said that last chapter or not, but clarity, on my part, is not always there. Hopefully you'll still be jazzed for the battle anyways! Classes, they're always interrupting the fun, huh? Thank you for reviewing- even short ones help me keep motivation!**

 **haipa-chan- Glad you enjoyed bloodthirsty Aracelis because she is quite violent- just not to people she likes or respects. And instinct :) It really is fed up with Aracelis being useless. I'm glad you think Ulquiorra is still relatively in character, because when it comes to Aracelis, I need him to care, even if just a bit, or this would be a very hard romance to write. Hopefully this chapter went well. I figured that he taunts opponents to a degree, so 'lighthearted' teasing towards Aracelis wouldn't be too outrageous. As for how long Ulquiorra had been with Aizen… gee, asking the hard questions. I'm not sure when Nel was forced out of the Espada, but I assume it was after the Visored were made, so during that time span, Ulquiorra then being with Aizen for a portion of that time considering I said Nel had technically found him. So he's been there like 70-50 years, Nel gone for the last like 50 or something (IDK when Harribel would have replaced her as third)? I honestly don't have an exact answer- timelines have always given me problems. Thank you for reviewing, your questions and comments really do make me think about things (which is always helpful)!**


	14. Chapter 14- Incite

The sea of hollows parted as they walked by, allowing them passage through the wall of bodies. The presumed 'elite' of the rebel group had gathered in a half-circle at the middle of the group, likely to draw the two Arrancar in to surround them at all sides in vain hopes of defeating them. Admittedly, the tactic was more thought out than Aracelis had believed the rebellious Adjuchas capable of. A few of them must have half a brain. If they were actually smart, though, they would give up immediately.

She glanced to the side, looking at the wall of howling weaklings beside her. That's all the Adjuchas had, then. Numbers. That wouldn't last long. A cero from her would take out twenty or so at a time. One from Ulquiorra could probably take out fifty plus depending on how densely packed together the targets were. Of course, if the Adjuchas kept getting in the way, they wouldn't get to blast through the group without risking hitting the 'recruits.' How irritating. They could so easily level the group if they didn't need to take some back for Aizen's stupid army.

Quickly she lost interest in the hollows at her sides and back. They were weak. Boring. Instead she looked to the ground, sensing what was below. When they had neared the group following killing that first hollow, more Menos Grande had arrived in the area. They must have been out gathering the dumb behemoths. About twenty more had shown up to add to the thirty already there. If she had to guess, the cero-canons would be popping their heads out of the sand at the start of the battle just to add to the chaos. Menos Grande weren't worth much more than distractions after all. There was an Adjucha below with them, likely coordinating the bumbling giants. It appeared to be suppressing its spiritual pressure- unlike the ones above ground pathetically flaring it in a sad attempt to appear strong. It didn't want to be found out, apparently. It was an idiot if it thought that it could hide from pesquisa so easily. The only way it could do that is if it managed to suppress its spiritual pressure in its entirety. Like her, because she could somehow manage to hide from Ulquiorra, much to his irritation.

With him in mind, she refocused her attention forward, gaining a great view of his coattails swishing as he walked. Not that seeing his face would reveal anything she hadn't already seen. As they had approached the group, she had caught a glimpse of his classic blank expression paired with the hardest, most uncaring eyes… She adored that look when it wasn't directed at her. The lethality of that expressionless stare. The way he radiated authority and power and control. Damn attractive things to a hollow. She could only _wish_ she had that much of a presence.

How the hell these hollows thought they had a chance… Sheer stupidity was the only thing she could think to call it. Even she recognized an unwinnable fight when she saw one- might not like to admit to it, but she still understood the concept of giving up to the inevitable. They were lucky to be offered even a chance at survival considering how hell-bent they seemed on keeping out of Aizen's merry army.

She wanted to see what these idiots looked like already.

After a few moments more of walking through the tunnel of parted hollows, they reached the center of the mass. The half-circle stood alert, all eyes focused forward, all spiritual pressures flared to their limits. Starting on the left end, a hollow with a bull skull mask and twisting spines resembling tree limbs stood silently and still, observing its enemies. The next was the largest of the Adjuchas in the group, a twitchy creature with three sets of wings, nastily talons, a bird faced mask, and its hollow hole bizarrely through where its right eye should rest. Right next to the giant bird was comparatively tiny clear-winged monster about double Aracelis's height, its round eyes bulging from behind a narrow mask with lengthy tubular mouth. Mosquito like, if she wanted to give it a proper animal comparison.

The next few were weaker: a reptilian body with a narrow mask, one with a human skull mask and thin, mantis-resemblance, and a bulky shouldered, almost wolf-like monster.

"Hello!"

Aracelis snapped her head to the source of the shrill, cheerful voice. One of the Adjuchas moved forward, giggling in the face of death. The hollow had a plain mask resembling no animal, its face cut in half by a sharp toothed grin, green glowing eyes surrounded by deep violet coloring. It had a thin torso, but its arms and legs were replaced with writhing green vines covered in thorns.

 _This_ was what had made that ungodly screech of a greeting. Aracelis felt offended that the thing had the guts to do something as weird as greet them. They were _enemies_. At least the bird face and flutter bug glared at the plant abomination in offence. Showed they understood they were about to be beat to death and a greeting was certainly _not_ in order.

"This is your final chance," Ulquiorra stated plainly, offering one final chance to the hollows, likely to avoid injuring Aizen's precious recruits if there was no need. "You will either join Lord Aizen or be executed. There is no escaping this inevitable outcome any longer. Further resistance is pointless."

"You think we'll just give up!?" The bird faced hollow howled, flapping its wings to create a gust that kicked up a puff of sand. "We'll never bow down to some soul reaper scum and its pets!?"

"There _are_ only two of you, Mr. Espada and friend," the plant chirped with bizarre enthusiasm, hiding a portion of its mask behind a mass of vines that substituted as a hand. "I do like our odds." It then shifted its pale green eyes to the hollows surrounding them all, their growling intensifying with anticipation. "Look at how many-"

A green glow forced the plant fall silent. With his arm raised to the side, the cero fired. The energy cut through the hollows, all of them screeching in absolute misery as they were burned away into nothingness. What once was a wall of packed dark, bodies became a gaping hole in the white sand. The Adjuchas stared in silence at how Ulquiorra had killed nearly a hundred hollows without so much as looking.

"You are prisoners even if you do not recognize yourselves as such," he said, lowering his arm back to his side to return his hand to his pocket.

Aracelis found herself watching his every movement, that cero still burning in her thoughts. _Damn. Damn that was amazing._ She was relieved he hadn't used one on her at close range like that. There was no way she could block all of that destructive force, no matter if it was with her hands, her sword, or her own cero. A blast like that meant sure death. She figured as much, but still… She could now see how comparatively 'nice' he was to her in training. Or in general. Maybe that meant he-

The smell of blood filled the air. With wide eyes, Aracelis glanced downwards. Pointed claws of another hollow pieced her abdomen, the white nails stained dark red with blood as it slowly dripped onto the ground. The brief shift in the sand before the wound, it had been the hollow burrowing out. The one that had been below with the Menos Grande.

 _You damn idiot! You'll get us killed at this rate,_ instinct was quick to berate. Not that Aracelis disagreed. She shouldn't have been so stupid, getting caught up in her thoughts at a time like this. She wasn't above injury; her own arrogance caught up with her. The Adjuchas had unknown abilities, yet she had let her guard down. There was no excuse. _If I die because of your stupid infatuation, I swear…_

In a swift pull, the hollow retracted its hand from her to let the blood spatter across the ground, now able to flow freely. Aracelis held a hand over her stomach reflexively. Of course that did nothing to slow the blood spilling from her back. A shadow flew over her, landing beside the plant hollow.

The hollow had thick plating, its body consisting of a human-like torso and a bug-like abdomen. Its mask covered its head like a helmet, the spikes on the top resembling a crown of sorts. On its back it had a moth-like set of wings. "You think you can scare us so easily?" It, or rather she judging by the pitch of the voice and chest plating, said as it flexed her blood covered claws. "That killing of a few dozen foot soldiers would intimidate us?"

"How nice of you to join us!" The plant giggled with a wave to the moth, utterly ruining the moment.

"Shut up, Clematis! You idiot!" the bird faced hollow squawked angrily, further turning the tense moment into a comedy skit. "Don't interrupt her!"

"Both of you, quiet," the mosquito hollow stated, its voice harsh in its order, but quiet in volume. "You are making us seem like fools."

During their squabbling, Aracelis took a moment to examine the gaping hole in her gut. She could feel her body _trying_ to heal it, but there was certainly nothing high-speed about it. And that smell near buried beneath the reek of her own blood… Something caustic? Just to test the theory she unsheathed her sword an inch to run her finger on the blade. The self-inflicted wound healed instantly, no problems. The moth hollow had some sort of poison potent enough to interrupt regeneration, then. If she didn't feel like she would be passing out soon, she'd have been more interested.

And, well, the shaking ground distracted her from her thoughts.

In the wake of the moth hollow, the Menos Grande had followed. The giant masked hollows bellowed as they arrived above ground in waterfalls of displaced sand. Soon the whole horde of them stomped around the battlefield to signal the end of talk. No, once Menos Grande were involved, the only thing guaranteed was the din of blind cero fire with senseless howls.

"We would sooner die than bend to your, or that soul reaper's, wishes," the moth hollow hissed, silencing the other three hollows. With that final statement it beat its wings to fly over the ground, ready to fight.

Before the battle became too chaotic, Aracelis used sonido to move in front of Ulquiorra. No doubt he had already noticed the wound, but the extent… She felt the need to warn him of her most recent regeneration predicament.

"Ulquiorra," she near whispered, it lost in the howls of the surrounding hollows. Her appearance in front of his had already gained his attention; she assumed he could understand her without actually hearing her anyways. The red glow of a Menos firing off a cero behind her interrupted. A backwards aimed bala dissipated it well enough, however. Might have taken out the entire hollow, too. She needed to be brief if she didn't want to be interrupted again. "That moth has some sort of poison. It interrupted my regeneration," she mouthed, not wanting one of the Adjuchas to hear just how much damage one blow had done.

And of course, within the first seconds of the battle she had gotten herself maimed. Ulquiorra nearly wondered how she managed this, but Aracelis always chose the most inopportune times for her mind to wander. He had sensed the hollow move to surface. Whatever had distracted her to such a degree had caused her injury. That and her own incompetence. At least she had the intelligence to not shout it out and put an even greater target on herself. That useless skill of lip-reading had become useful again, apparently.

"I'll take out the Menos and as many of the lower ranked ones as I can," Aracelis said aloud, catching that he had understood her more dire message. She turned, batting away another pathetic beam of red from a Menos. "I can do that much." If she was injured any further, she would pass out. She'd just have to kill everything quickly, then.

She jumped into the air, propelling herself through a few unlucky hollows that happened to be in the way. About ten of the giant hooded hollows focused on her once she cleared the majority of the gathering below. Just as she went after the nearest Menos, the bird-faced Adjucha began to flap its wings, the sand whirling around. In seconds the entire battlefield below became trapped in an obscuring sandstorm. The Menos truly were blind-firing downwards, their only orders from the Adjuchas to attack indiscriminately. A number of their own forces ended up incinerated. Not a danger to Ulquiorra or her, but irritating. Like gnats.

Her heel smashed through the nearest Menos's mask, the entire creature fading away with the blow. She clutched at her stomach. The bleeding had slowed, but the wound burned as her body regenerated only for the poison to eat away most of the progress. It didn't help that regenerating organs took more effort than a regular wound _without_ some irritating poison slowing it more. The constant moving wouldn't help, either, but she fully intended to kill all of these Menos. If the poison's effects persisted longer than that, then she would deal with the consequences as they came. She didn't want to be useless.

Ulquiorra stood in the same spot as when the battle had begun, his focus now on the Adjuchas as opposed to his injury prone subordinate. Assessing their abilities was more important, currently. She seemed to be holding up well enough anyway, considering the slowed cero-fire from the dwindling amount of Menos.

The bird hollow fired off a gold-tinged cero, the attack not even worth reacting to. In the end only the sand was disturbed, sending the creature into a chain of profanities. It had created a sizable sandstorm to limit vision, but that alone held minimal tactical use. Coupled with its rather weak spiritual pressure and apparent lack of intelligence, the bird hollow was unimpressive. Disposable should it get in the way.

It was that moment the moth hollow charged forward with a raised hand. Sidestepping the incredibly slow, crude attack took no effort. Despite seeing the difference in their speed, it stubbornly continued to slash away. While it held an ability to interrupt even Aracelis's advanced regeneration, the moth was relatively useless. From Aracelis's wound it was easy to see that the poison hadn't melted away the surrounding flesh, only kept the initial gouge from closing. Such a thing was only useful against other hollows that utilized regeneration. Soul reapers had not such ability to interrupt. The only reason to leave the moth alive was the possibility the Hogyoku could enhance the ability into something worthwhile.

As the moth hollow retreated, he set sights on the one that had greeted them upon arrival. The plant hollow had yet to attack, instead choosing to stand off to the side with a wide grin across its face. He had almost believed the plant to be the leader of the group because its spiritual pressure was the strongest of the gathered Adjuchas. Only when it deferred to the moth did it become clear who the designated leader was. Without seeing the plant's latent abilities, however, its overall potential was undeterminable.

The other hollow that appeared to have decent spiritual pressure was the bull-like hollow with branches sprouted from its back. It remained off to the side, observing silently, apparently not keen on fighting. Beside it, the small insect hollow hovered with disinterest. The other Adjuchas began to charge forward following the moth's retreat, some of the lesser evolved hollows joining in.

Above, Aracelis killed off another Menos, only a third left alive. The giants diverted all attention to her now, the lower ranked hollows capable of flight joining into the Menos' efforts to eliminate her.

She felt short of breath. The wound continued to seep blood, never closing. The poison hadn't dissipated yet either. Not that a few minutes was a lot of time for that to happen. At this rate she'd be passing out a lot sooner than she first thought.

 _What did you think would happen? You've been firing off ceros and balas like a wasteful idiot,_ instinct chimed in with utter annoyance _. Seriously, can't you do something a bit less energy-consuming? You're using all of our reserves to heal this damn wound over and over because you were stupid enough to let that hollow stab you, and then you just go and waste more on flinging around attacks without aiming._

"Shut up," she hissed through gritted teeth, pulverizing a hollow unfortunate enough to be near her.

 _If I shut up, we'd both be dead. Or, well, you would. Do you know how useless you are? No wonder he didn't want you as his subordinate. You can't do anything but complain and get hurt. You are_ _ **so**_ _useless._

"I told you to shut up!" The damn voice wouldn't stop. It was awful, like when she was an Adjuchas. The constant chattering driving her to insanity, ordering her around like it owned her. And she wasn't useless…

 _Are you upset? You know it's true. I know that you know. You are so worried that he will just get so annoyed by your ineptness that he'll leave you. That you'll be trash to him. So desperate for his attention. It's disgustingly human. You know he dislikes humans, right? He'll think you're the same as them. Weak and pathetic, overcome by pointless emotion._

"Such the hell up!"She fired off a cero, the blast taking two Menos with it. Her vision blurred as another wave of nauseating pain shot through her stomach. Her damn head distracting her only made things worse.

 _And now look. You're about to pass out. Pathetic. You know, you always find some damn way to get killed when I don't want you to. I swear, if I even let you use your resurrección you'd find a way to die._

"What do you mean 'let me?!"' She screamed, losing any control she had, not caring how insane she appeared yelling to herself. If it was preventing her from using resurrección… She gnashed her teeth together, firing off several bala in frustration to take out the remaining Menos. Not all of them were on target, either.

Silence.

"What the hell do you mean by let me?" she growled to herself. As soon as she wanted an answer it fell silent. Damn voice.

 _I would have just let you die if you didn't have such a useful ability._

* * *

"Mr. Espada," the plant called cheerfully to Ulquiorra as he killed the trash attacking him. It crept a bit closer as it spoke. "Are you having fun? I mean, why else play with the weaker ones?" It tilted its head to the side. "Or are you not supposed to play with us? That would be no fun," it pouted, keeping the condescendingly childish tone present. "Just a little fun wouldn't hurt, right? I mean, you do need to know what we can do before you just decide to kill us. That soul reaper would be mad if you killed something with a fun ability, right?"

"Clematis, you're way of taunting is shit," the moth hollow grumbled. "Get to the point."

"Such language, Ellzea!" The plant, Clematis, gasped before falling into a fit of giggles. "Fine, fine. I'll stop messing around."

The Adjuchas that remained alive fled from the immediate area around Ulquiorra with the plant's words. It raised several of its vines to point in his direction, the glow of several violet-hues ceros gathering at the tip of each. The ceros fired in a din of noise and light.

He easily blocked it all with one hand, crushing it with one twitch of his fingers. As the bright glow faded the moth raced for his back. Predictable. While he turned to toss the irritating hollow off to the side, the plant did as he suspected. With his back to it, the creature made its move, wrapping a few of the vines around his torso. The moth was flung away into the sand, its wing snapping off while the creature let out a piercing scream of pain and anger. In response the plant tightened its hold, the thorn covered vines ineffective against his hierro.

The effects of the vines did not become apparent right away. Instead, he only noticed a slight change in vision, a flickering of light, before he could make out blurred images overtop of his normal sight. He would hardly have called it a worthy distraction until more senses were warped by the plant's ability. Cold. He physically felt cold as a fuzzy image of white with black forms played before his eyes. It passed in an instance, switching to something vaguely familiar. Screeching humans as they ran terrified, pursued by winged hollow judging by a cast shadow. That insatiable hunger of lesser hollow returned to him briefly.

Every passing image became clearer, replacing his vision of the battlefield. It was an odd ability; it took time to take full effect, but once it did, the plant could likely cause the target to forget reality by manipulating sensory to mimic memories. This one, despite its awful personality, could be of use.

Suddenly the image sharpened to deceptive authenticity. The plant could pick and choose what memory to force him to relive. And, what it had chosen… _'A bat hollow, huh?' she muttered, studying him. 'You're quite small, too." She tilted her head to the side before suddenly reappearing in front of him. "Do you have a name, Adjucha?'_

"Oooo, now _this_ is interesting!" Clematis's voice interrupted, pulling him out of that ancient memory, realizing every memory now focused on Aracelis. Until Clematis found one in particular to replay for him as many times in succession as she could.

 _The sword pierced through her chest below her collarbone, pinning her left arm. For a time, both stood in absolute stillness, processing what had happened. Only when she coughed up blood did he recognize what he had done. She stumbled forward, unable to stand. Before she drove the blade deeper into her body he released his hold. She fell to the ground, desperately trying to pull out the blade, her wrist hanging loosely to the side, snapped in half, useless. Blood stained lips repeating his name as he watched her die._

"You seemed so cold," the plant giggled. "I didn't think you'd care about anything, let alone a girl. Mr. Espada, how surprising of you!"

She barely made it through her sentence before being flung through the air, nearly half of her vines missing, sliced ends spewing out muddy blood. A number of vines regenerated, the Adjuchas having yet exchanged the ability for additional strength. Just as she stood back up, a bala exploded upon impact with the ground, nearly hitting the plant. Another smashed into the ground a few feet away.

He fought glancing upwards just to see what that idiot was doing firing bala into the ground. In the last few moments her spiritual pressure became chaotic, shifting from spiking to suppressing. Her control, or lack there off, had degraded. Either her wound had worsened, or she had been angered by something.

"Ellzea, I found a weakness," Clematis chimed in, staring upwards. "Rudbornn and Licidae, time for you to have some fun!"

Upon the plants orders, the mosquito hollow flew into the air. The bull-like hollow followed a fraction later, growths appearing on the branches of its back, slowly morphing into skulls.

"Geero, you as well," the moth commanded, the bird hollow giving a squawk in response, the sandstorm beginning to weaken. Ellzea picked herself off of the ground, flapping her remaining wing rapidly. Every other hollow still alive flanked her. Clematis, now healed, crept back within striking range. They wished to prevent him from rescuing Aracelis.

Not that he had intended to. She was not a weakness. He did not care about her.

* * *

"What the hell are you on about?" Useful ability? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

 _Just shut up and fight._

Aracelis almost screamed at it again, but the quick beat of wings made her whip her head around in time to see the mosquito charging at her full speed. She used sonido to avoid being speared by its mouth. At the same time as the mosquito came to halt, the bull appeared below her as well. The Adjuchas had finally decided to target her. The two had been standing on the side lines till this point, meaning she had no idea what abilities they had. Or if she could beat them to death, both in the sense of not knowing if Ulquiorra wanted to keep them or if she could physically handle them in her state.

"I am surprised to see you still conscious," the smaller hollow stated. "Ellzea's poison is quite potent."

"Her regeneration has been able to keep up with the effects of the poison," the bull skulled hollow added plainly. "It has, however, failed overcome it. She will die easily."

"If you are so irritated with following orders, go back to watching," the mosquito shot back, somehow inferring the bull was annoyed despite there being no obvious indication to Aracelis. "I can handle this myself."

"Are you two done talking?" Aracelis asked before the two continued. She had a time limit. Even breathing was beginning to hurt, almost like her regeneration had begun to fail, about to leave the wound fully open and bleeding. Once that happened there would be no more fighting.

The two fell silent, glaring at her for second. Then the mosquito turned its head to her, glow charging at the end of its mouth. Anticipating a cero, Aracelis raised her hand to block it barehanded or with a cero of her own, need be.

The bull hollow appeared behind her with sonido. She spun around, not expecting the large creature to have any sort of speed to it. From its branches fell several skulls, bodies developing from each. A sudden army of human-sized hollows launched themselves at her.

She dodged the relatively slow creatures. Unfocused on the other hollow, however, left it time to finish preparing its attack. With just enough time to hear the attack fire and turn her body to face it, the blast hit her arm. It hadn't been a cero. Something latched onto her right arm near her shoulder, the red pod pulsating as soon as it wrapped veiny tendrils around her.

 _Cut your arm off!_

Her eyes widened with the suggestion, but then she felt it. The pod began draining what little blood she had left.

 _NOW!_

Without a second thought she grabbed her sword, switching to her left hand. In one movement the infected limb fell to the ground. For a second the fresh injury seeped blood before regenerating in full.

In that time the bull-like hollow's skulled warriors reached her. The creatures took hold of her limbs, one further restricting her by grabbing under her arms to keep them from full movement. She managed to charge a cero, the blast killing one that held her arm, the one next to it receiving damage as well.

The two were quickly replaced. All around her stood these created hollows, the bull in the process of making more should the ones in use be killed.

A yellow glow shot through the air behind her, barely missing her head. Just as she moved to look over her shoulder she saw it. The sandstorm below died away, parting to reveal the plant hollow waiting below. Several purple glows reached completion around it. And, one by one, they fired in succession.

Each cero hit separately to chain together like one continuous blow. The creatures holding her died after the first blast, more charging in to pile on her and keep her in the line of fire. The mass of bodies not only took damage from the plant's cero, but blocked anything Aracelis was able to fire. When the violet ceros came to a stop, she plummeted to the ground into the sand below.

In areas, layers of skin had burnt off, any nerves left alive on overdrive. The wound in her stomach opened back up, unable to fight the poison as her body tried to regenerate the multiple other injuries. She could only roll onto her side and prop herself up with an arm, gasping for air the entire time. No matter how badly she wished to just sleep, the remaining lower ranked hollows all gathered around her, the Adjuchas targeting Ulquiorra.

His eyes glanced at her for only a second before returning to ignoring her. But she deserved it. She knew she did. There was no reason for her to be this injured. Looking at him, he barely had dust on his clothes. He had every right to ignore her. It'd been her fault. She could die for all he cared because she was _pathetic_. She understood this, but, even then, she wished he would help her. Or at least not look at her like she was utter trash.

Aracelis could only keep the hollows at bay with poorly aimed ceros and bala. Soon, though, even that would come to an end. Her vision was already beginning to fade to unconsciousness. Holding on for much longer… No matter how stubborn she was she knew it wasn't possible.

"Worried for you subordinate?" Ellzea goaded, pulling herself out of the sand after being tossed to the side again. The moth showed no acknowledgement of being bested, that he had been allowing her to live. The jagged smile did not recognize the difference between their powers.

"How sweet of you, Mr. Espada!" the plant added cheerfully, severed vines re-growing. "Why else would you stop me from killing her with ceros?" The plant quickly relapsed into wild laughter. Some of the weaker Adjucha joined in.

He grew tired of their unwarranted arrogance. The decision had already been made. With the bull-hollow's earlier display of being able to create soldiers, it had proven itself useful. The plant Clematis would also keep her life for her ability to read memories and manipulate senses. The mosquito held limited interest. When Aracelis's severed arm fell to the battlefield below, he had seen the hollow's fitting ability to drain blood, but that alone was not overly valuable. The bird, if it got in the way, would be killed. The same applied to the moth. The other Adjuchas weren't even worth considering.

He would be ending this. Aracelis neared blacking out, now useless in battle. Harribel would arriving soon enough as well. Subjugating the Adjuchas, destroying the worthless remnants of the rebellious hollows. Those were his goals now.

"There's only you now. We can win, no matter if you're an Espada or not," the moth cackled. "A hollow subservient to a soul reaper could never defeat us! We'll-"

The moth fell silent, body tensing. All around the hollows became quiet, eyes widening, a few backing away. Some of the weakest disintegrated as they were crushed. Aracelis watched, a weak laugh escaping her lips. His spike in spiritual pressure… They had managed to irritate him. The moth just had to stupidly spout off something as absurdly arrogant as saying they could win. Too bad her vision was becoming spotted with black. Watching this play out fully… It would have been hilarious.

"How foolish," he stated, staring at the moth in particular. Its entire body shook, refusing to flee, however. "Your misplaced pride in defeating someone as weak as her has lead you to believe you stand even the slightest chance against me."

"W-we will kill you!" The moth shouted, a pink tinged cero gathering in front of its mouth.

The energy fired, sending sand into the air in a dusty cloud of white. As the gains fell back to the ground his silhouette stood unharmed, unimpressed. The moth desperately called every hollow to prepare to attack with it.

"You do not seem to understand the vast differences in our power," his voice sliced through the air, harsh with fading indifference. He reached for his side, slowly drawing his sword. "Allow me teach you how weak you truly are." Holding his blade in front of him, he lowly stated, "Enclose, Murciélago."

Aracelis watched, mouth falling open, pupils dilating. Tangible spiritual energy rained down over the area with a dim green glow. Those few seconds as it fell around her, it was suffocating. Crushing. Incomprehensibly powerful. His form shifted, this form so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time because of the sheer oppressive spiritual pressure radiating from him. The black wings, the way his nails lengthened to more resemble claws, the horns spouting off of the remnants of his mask, how the black of his hair and wings contrasted with the white of his skin and clothes, the only color coming from his hardened emerald eyes; he so resembled the creature she had known in the past, more so than his Arrancar form ever could.

Around her, more of the hollows turned to dust under the pressure, a few others dropping to the ground unconscious. The Adjuchas all looked on, horrified. Even the chirpy plant lost its grin and shook with fear in the face of his resurrección.

A reptilian bodied hollow turned to run. Suddenly the creature's body split in half. Nearby hollows scrambled backwards to avoid the bloody heap as it crashed to the ground. Aracelis stared with narrowed eyes, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. She had barely seen him move from where he stood. He'd moved so quickly that he completely slipped her pesquisa. His speed in this form… She couldn't comprehend it. These hollows... They'd no idea how screwed they were.

The Adjuachs stood their ground despite their fearful expressions. A few of the lower ranked ones followed suit, but others decided to go for a weaker target. One that's spiritual pressure seemed to be fading to nothingness quite quickly. In seconds the horde returned to flinging themselves at Aracelis.

 _Just pass out already, would you?_ Instinct spat, her vision clouding to the point that aiming became an impossible feat. Eventually she just gave in, falling limply to the sand.

"L-looks like your subordinate is about to die," Ellzea said, attempting to regain lost confidence in the face of such an enemy, still unwilling to admit defeat. "Aren't you going to go save her?"

He glanced over his shoulder, seeing Aracelis passed out in the sand, several hollows about to finish her. Then he looked back to the quivering moth in front of him. "There is no need to save something as worthless as her." He took a step forward, forming a lance at his side.

"You're lying." Clematis stated, her voice losing the earlier playfulness.

He narrowed his eyes slightly at her accusation.

"You wouldn't let her die," the plant continued. "Not unless you kill her yourself. That's what you decided. Her life is yours, no one else's. Not even Aizen's. And certainly not some pathetic hollow incapable of reason's. Deny it all you want, but that's the truth."

"You are mistaken," he said, now stepping towards the plant. It had seen a lot more than just memories. Even his thoughts had been hers to see. Her ability went far beyond what he had first presumed. "I have no such attachment to her. If she dies, then so be it."

"So cruel, she's lucky she can't hear you. It would devastate her." The plant glanced away from him. "I suppose we all could just-" Clematis froze midsentence.

"What… What the hell?" Ellzea screamed, grabbing one of Clematis's vines to pull her back.

Before he had a chance to turn around, he sensed a change. Aracelis's spiritual pressure had disappeared completely for a second, and then… What replaced it…

A shockwave rang out in ear-bursting din that drowned out the cries of the hollows near her. Parts of shredded hollows rained down before disintegrating. Clematis and Ellzea were flung through the air, unable to hold their ground. Other hollows followed their fate. Even Ulquiorra found himself being forced back by the blast, if only a fraction.

As soon as the shockwave subsided, the hollows rushed back at the source with terrified howls. A pale blue glow intensified far beyond what he considered normal for Aracelis. For a Número.

He looked over his shoulder. Despite himself, his pupils constricted upon the sight.

"Impossible," he said beneath his breath.

* * *

 **A/N- Well now, I hope you all enjoyed. I don't think I've done the battle cliff-hanger to you guys yet, so enjoy. Couldn't help it; it's just a good place to stop with how long this chapter was getting. I've been excited to get to this chapter and the next for a while. I hope Ulquiorra going into his resurreccion wasn't out of character; I just figured with how he treated Ichigo's stubborn determination to fight the inevitable, the hollows acting in a similar manner would anger him. And man does Aracelis have bad luck, huh?**

 **I hope adding more OCs doesn't irk anyone. There was just such a convenient gap in the Número numbers from 57 to like 77 that I decided to take advantage of it. As well as give Rudbornn a back story considering he's number 61. And, well, I need some pawns to play with, honestly.**

 **As always, thank you all so much for reading. I do love questions, so I will answer any (unless too much plot is at risk, of course)!**

 **Thank you to redrosebird and Emmuyasha for favoriting and/or following!**

 **ChaosDemon1129- I'm glad you're still loving the story! Hopefully this chapter included! Thank you for giving your opinion about the rating- it helps a lot. I'm never sure what draws the line because the line is fairly arbitrary. I'll be leaving it alone unless told otherwise, then. Thank you for the help, and for reviewing again!**

 **Mari Clair Roemajji Celts- Ulquiorra take a hint? Nah, for someone quite smart, matters of the heart go over his head. And I hope I showed this chapter he is trying his very hardest to** _ **not**_ **care. You're review made me giggle quite a bit just because yep, he could have kissed her, but nah, he just insulted her. Progress, though. He acknowledged her as his Fracción at least. But then this chapter happened… When you say 'why can't he just tell her' do you mean why he was in the tree or those gosh darn feelings? I could try to explain my thinking behind both. Well, thank you for reviewing again! Love to know readers' reactions to things so I can laugh manically while typing.**

 **haipa-chan- I'm glad you think Aracelis's infatuation is cute, even if it did get her into a lot of trouble this chapter! Girl just can't keep her eyes off him. Really happy that the pacing with the romance is working out because, well, look who I'm working with. Don't want to ruin his character; I want to develop it. And I really do like answering questions, or at least trying! Your timeline questions help me get my shit together instead of going 'ah, yes, that sounds vaguely correct, I'll go with that.' And then being completely wrong. In a way, you are sorta promoting the story through reviewing- I know I look at how many reviews or followers a story has before reading alotta times. So, yes, thank you so much for continuing to review!**


	15. Chapter 15- Subjugate

The shockwave forced back the gathering of hollows, sending even the Adjuchas flying through the air. The weakest of the group were shredded by the burst, bloodied limbs and hunks of flesh raining down on the battlefield before disintegrating, returning to reishi. As the shockwave subsided, what remained of the lower ranked hollows followed after a wolf-bodied Adjucha in a charge against Aracelis.

With the blue glow intensifying far beyond normal levels, Ulquiorra had to turn his attention to her.

"Impossible," he muttered to himself, unable to mask his surprise at what he saw.

Hovering above the sands, she waited for a cero to reach completion, her hand now clawed and red with blood. She had used her resurrección. White, layered plating covered most of her torso, extending over her hips to reach down to her knees. More plating protected her left shoulder while upon her right rested a skull-like growth. Her mask had become symmetric, covering both of her cheeks and forehead, leaving her expressionless face visible. On her back were two sets of wings, the four beating in sync. Behind her a bladed tail whipped side to side. She had not lied when she said she most resembled a dragonfly.

The irregularities in her spiritual pressure made more sense now. Upon the release of her sword, she had absorbed every remaining particle from the hollows killed in the initial shockwave. Now, mixed into the energy fueling the cero, was the earlier hollows' energy, trace amounts of the other Espadas', the soul reapers', anything she had been in contact with, became noticeable in her. It became quite obvious how much of his own spiritual energy had been mixed into her own as well, particularly when he had released his zanpakuto earlier. That power made up the majority of the cero.

But none of that was what caught him off guard. The moment she began to form that cero, he knew. He knew that it was far from normal for any of the Números.

The charge reached its peak in a roar as she shot it off. The blinding light leveled the area in a flash. The hollows in its wake were incinerated instantly, there no hope for the weaker creatures against such an attack. Not even a trace of the wolf Adjucha remained in the crater carved in the sand.

A gran rey cero. What she had just used was a gran rey cero, a technique limited to the Espada because of the massive amount of control and spiritual energy required to use it. And yet, Aracelis had just used one without a single doubt. Right now, with the release of all that built up spiritual energy, she may as well be an Espada. Lower ranked, ninth most likely, seventh the absolute highest estimate. Still, he would not have considered her that strong. Not when Aizen pawned her off as a mere Fracción.

"He," Clematis's voice muttered, rerouting attention away from Aracelis as she seemingly looked over her destruction. "He didn't expect this. He didn't know she had this ability." The obnoxious plant giggled a few times, gushing, "How interesting she is! Rudbornn, attack him! Licidae, with me!"

"Geero," the moth screamed as she was joined by the bird and bull, the mosquito and plant focusing on Aracelis.

The bird hollow was first to reach him, diving down at him in a sad attempt to snap its beak on his head. It didn't even have to time to react as Ulquiorra's wing smacked it across the face to launch it through the air. It helplessly tumbled to the ground in a mess of feathers and displaced sand, mask partially shattered, blood running down its face, the creature barely clinging to life. He never even bothered to look at it, now interested in watching how Aracelis would handle herself against the Adjuchas. The moth hung back with the easy defeat of its favored subordinate with a look of alarm. The bull, Rudbornn, saw the senselessness in attacking, resuming standing off to the side.

Aracelis seemed caught up in killing the lesser hollows that continued to recklessly throw themselves at her. The screeching death howls of hollows caught in the blare of ceros and balas happened to be the only noise as she wordlessly destroyed anything drawing near her. The lack of jeering was… different. Unsettling to a degree, even. With her back to him, he could not tell if she wore her wild smile as she created havoc, or if her silence meant she had grown bored. He also found it odd that she remained in one place. With how she bemoaned missing her original form's wings and claws, she certainly wasn't utilizing them.

As Aracelis killed off the weaker hollows, the mosquito prepared an attack while Clematis relocated opposite of the winged hollow. When a pod-like structure shot through the air, lashing out with thin tendrils, Aracelis turned slightly. As the tendrils reached to grasp her arm she caught it in her hand, tossing the crushed attack to the side, unimpressed.

The distraction had worked. Somehow Aracelis missed that the mosquito had been a diversion to allow Clematis, who was relatively slow, time to jump upwards. The plant's numerous vines entangled Aracelis from behind. Clematis pulled herself as close as possible to Aracelis's body to avoid her main body from being torn apart as Aracelis ripped away at vines with sharpened claws, a silent snarl of disgust on her face as she thrashed about. Even as the number vines lessened by the dozens, Clematis adamantly refused to let go until she got what she wanted.

Aracelis suddenly paused all movement. After a second of strange stillness and silence, the plant screeched as she saw what was coming before Aracelis actually acted. Aracelis managed to free her tail from the tangle of oozing, injured vines. The bladed edge buried itself in the center of Clematis' back, almost piercing fully though. Once she pulled her tail from the wound the plant limply fell backwards, mangled vines too weak to keep hold.

She didn't allow Clematis to fall. Instead Aracelis grabbed some of the remaining vines on the plant's head with one hand. The other she held out in front of her, light gathering in her palm.

The energy cut through the ground, diverted. From below, the plant's mad laughter rang out as she threw away the severed hand that once held her in the air. Aracelis stood facing forward. Her right arm remained wretched behind her back uncomfortably, a twitch away from being dislocated. In seconds her left hand regenerated to replace what he had sliced off to force her to release the plant hollow. Still, she did not turn to look at him.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, grip on her wrist tightening. She had been aiming to kill the plant, and it should have been quite obvious by now that that was one they would be bringing back for Aizen. If that were not the case, he wouldn't have bothered keeping it alive after interrupting its cero fire against Aracelis earlier. He would have killed it immediately after it dared read his memory to make ridiculous assumptions about their relationship. She should have understood that.

No answer came. Her attention remained forward, showing no acknowledgment to him, deliberately ignoring him.

As he pulled her arm, intending to force her to look at him, there was a flicker of light. His attention refocused from the back of her head to her right shoulder in a fraction of a second. The skull over her right shoulder… He narrowed his eyes upon seeing the fading glow in the eye sockets. Though it was brief, he had seen them. A set of eyes had shifted to look at him. What had that been? Disturbingly it wasn't curiosity he felt towards the strange instance. No, it bothered him immensely.

His body reacted instinctually to grab her tail as she whipped it for his face. Holding onto the bladed edge he stared at her, his face fighting to hide how offended he felt by this. She had attacked him. Without warning. Even if he had blocked it easily, the fact she had attempted to hurt him… He couldn't understand what she was doing. Nothing about this made sense. Her attacking him just perplexed him to the point he could only stare at her as if waiting for her to explain herself.

"You," Clematis's delirious voice screamed, interrupting the silence over the battlefield, "are the most hilarious hollows I've seen in forever! I would join Aizen just to see how this plays out!" The plant returned to hysterically laughing in a pool of its own sticky blood, wounds slowly regenerating.

Aracelis tore her tail out of his loosened grip, a beat of her wings putting a short distance between them. She returned to ignoring him, eyes focused on the plant with a threatening glare aimed at Clematis. The plant just continued to cackling away like the look added to the joke she had apparently made. With the plant's outburst, the other Adjuchas regained a sense of what they had been doing before watching the two supposed allies fight.

"Rudbornn, go after them!" The moth shrieked, looking to the bull hollow standing idly by. "Bastard, don't ignore me! You can't just wait for Clematis to order you around," she hissed, pointing a clawed finger at the giggling pile of shredded vines. "Do some-"

"Espada, I will join Lord Aizen's cause without further resistance." Rudbornn spoke over the moth to make his position clear. "Not when I could gain godlike power by joining them," he directed to Clematis as she held back giggles to listen. "Your strength is no longer necessary to me."

"Okay, Rudbornn, have fun!" Clematis chirped, waving at him. "Hope you don't end up like Dordoni did when he ran off to join Aizen!"

Immediately following his decree, Rudbornn turned on what remained of the lower ranked hollows, sending out a few of his created soldiers to destroy them. The mosquito hollow joined him as well. Soon enough all of the Adjuchas picked off lesser hollows still on the attack, merely following after the strongest in hopes they would survive. The moth howled in frustration before charging a cero in front its mouth, foolishly intending on fighting Ulquiorra alone now that it had been abandoned by its allies. As the pink cero fired, he raised a hand, ready to kill the moth once and for all.

Ulquiorra stumbled to the side, blood dripping down into his eye. The side of his face was scorched by the sudden attack, a single cut on his forehead where the blast managed to make it through his hierro. He wiped the blood off his face with his hand, staring at the smudge it left on his fingertips with disbelief. Aracelis… Aracelis had aimed a bala for his head. She meant to kill him, or at least to try. This wasn't… This wasn't how Aracelis behaved at all.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her use sonido, her form leaving an afterimage as she neared the speed of what Zommari called Gemelos Sonido. He could still see her movement, but the degree in which her speed increased upon her sword release was beyond what he expected. It was likely she could effectively match his own for a short period of time, even in his resurrección.

Once in striking range she slashed at him with her claws. Even after stepping out of the way of the first strike, she kept attacking, slashing at him from multiple angles while moving forward. He allowed her to continue for a few moments, observing. The way she lashed out with her claws alone, body rigid, weight distributed equally between feet; it contrasted greatly to her typical preferences. Rather, she had a tendency to bounce weight between her feet, muscles relaxed so she could contort to attack or dodge at a moment's notice. Her movements now also seemed awkward to a degree, the earlier speed lost when making individual attacks because of the odd contrast in tactics. This major change in fighting style coupled with the baffling behavior she was exhibiting…

It wasn't her. It couldn't be.

With narrowed eyes, he caught her by the wrist, throwing her to the ground. She stayed planted in the sandy crater she made, face down, making no effort to move. After a second she came out her resurrección, all the accumulated energy dissipating to leave her as seemingly powerless as usual. He would deal with her later.

As soon as Aracelis hit the ground, Clematis dragged herself out of her bloody heap of vines, slowly pulling herself towards Aracelis. At the same moment the moth shouted out, "How dare you ignore me!" Before the irritating creature could think to react he appeared in front of it, forming a Luz de la Luna. One diagonal slash was enough to end its stupidity.

A brief moment passed as the moth froze in place. Then it let out a piecing scream, hands flying to its face, blood covering the white sand in a layer of red as the gash spurted. It stumbled back with incoherent words still clutching its face, chest bleeding to bathe the entire creature in its own blood.

"Ellzea!" Cleamtis shrieked, immediately rushing to the moth's side, dismissing her own injuries and Aracelis.

"I'll kill him! Kill him! Kill him! KILL HIM!" Ellzea cursed, attempting to reach out only to have Clematis pull her arm back down.

"Ellzea, it's over. It's time to give up," the plant stated, becoming darkly serious. "You are lucky to still be alive; he had every intention of killing you. And do you not sense them? Another of the Espada is just moments away. Fighting will ensure our deaths. We need to accept our fates." The moth continued to deny the plant's words, but her tone quieted to one of reluctant acceptance. Even she knew she could not fight another Espada, and that Clematis told the truth of his intentions because she had read his mind earlier.

Ulquiorra turned away, his job complete for the most part, his interest in the Adjuchas gone. Instead he walked towards Aracelis, who still lay unmoving in the sand a few feet away. He sheathed Murciélago now that there was no further need for it. He watched for a few seconds as her chest rose and fell, seeing that she had passed out when she hit the ground. It wasn't clear if that had been a reaction to coming out her resurrección or if he had thrown her into the ground with that much force. The crater around her hinted that it had probably been the latter. He would need to wake her up before questioning her, then.

"Mr. Espada, we will behave now," Clematis called to him. "Lord Aizen was generous enough to offer us the chance to join his army. In return we will serve faithfully as his soldiers, as well as act as an example to any other hollows that resisting his rule will be met with either death or subjugation," she confirmed, paralleling some of his thoughts on the matter just to show that she had a complete understanding of the position the hollows found themselves in.

As the plant finished speaking four human-like figures arrived at the battle scene; a blond woman flanked by three others. Harribel remained silent for a few moments, taking in the destruction. Despite hiding it well, she was not pleased by the number of hollows left. From the reports there had been hundreds, now there no more than twenty. More could have been saved. And the ones that were left alive… The giant bird had a cracked mask, laying passed out. The moth had a disfiguring slash to its face and chest that would likely be permanent. The plant had half-regrown vines mixed with missing ones, only a few remaining intact. They were in horrible condition overall.

Her subordinates were less bothered by the destruction. No, they focused on the blue haired woman with her face buried in the sand. Curiosity reflected on their faces, but, underneath that, they hid fear. What they sensed as they neared the battlefield still remained fresh in their minds. The massive amounts of spiritual pressure, they could name only one accurately. They knew it had been Ulquiorra who had released his sword first, but the second… It had been as strong as an Espada but the only other Arrancar there was Aracelis. Weak, pathetic Aracelis. They refused to believe it had been her.

"Ulquiorra," Harribel began, breaking the silence, "that other spiritual pressure, it had belonged to Aracelis?" It had been oddly powerful, on par with the lower ranked Espada. She had never known Aracelis to possess such power. And while they approached, Aracelis had been fighting against Ulquiorra. The blood still smudged across his forehead could only have been caused by her. The Adjuchas could not have injured him in his resurrección. She was almost surprised to see he had spared her if this had been the case.

"Aracelis? No way," Apacci muttered, mainly to herself, but catching the attention of Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun as well. "She can't be that strong," she whispered, mirroring the other women's thoughts.

Instead of answering right away, Ulquiorra returned his gaze to Aracelis. "Yes," was the simple answer he settled upon. It was all that was necessary.

Harribel gave a slight nod in response, pausing a moment before offering, "Do you want one of us to carry her back?" The whispers of distaste from her subordinates were ignored as she patiently waited for a response.

"No, I will deal with her," he stated indifferently, never taking his eyes off her back. "As my Fracción, she is my responsibility."

"Very well." Harribel turned her attention to the Adjuchas, walking towards them to speak with them. To perhaps prevent them from causing further sacrifices in the name of stubborn pride.

"Do you think he'll just leave her here?" Apacci whispered, a step behind Harribel, standing in line with Mila-Rose and Sung-Sun. That had to be why Harribel bothered asking what Ulquiorra wanted to do with Aracelis; she wouldn't leave the irritating woman without at least offering to help her.

"Leave her?" Mila-Rose scoffed, rolling her eyes. "He'll probably kill her, you idiot." The fourth Espada was certainly not known for kindness. Leaving her alive after she attacked him, it was a ludicrous idea only Apacci would consider.

"No, I do believe you are both wrong." Sung-Sun hid a smirk behind her sleeve as the other two women whipped around to glare at her contradicting them _again_. "If I am not mistaken, he had been the one Aracelis had been looking for all of that time ago. Correct, Master Harribel?"

"Yes," Harribel quietly confirmed, listening to her Fracción consider the odd behavior of Ulquiorra. That had been the only conclusion she could reach as well. He had been Aracelis's ally in the past. His uncharacteristic reaction of shock when Lord Aizen introduced her to the Espada could only have meant that they knew each other. That they had been close. This is why she had waited instead of taking Aracelis as her Fracción when she recognized her. Although she was hesitant to trust him, she believed that he wouldn't leave Aracelis behind, nor kill her. Had she not, she would have had one of her Fracción take Aracelis back, using her authority over him to ensure her safety.

Harribel stopped a few steps in front of the plant and moth hollow. The other former rebels gathered behind the two, showing that one of the two had been the leader of the group. They were waiting for orders from Harribel however, their attention all focused on her. They had seemingly accepted their defeat already.

"All of you," Harribel began, looking to each of the hollows. "If you follow our orders, there will be no more unnecessary sacrifices." At her words, most glanced at the ground, subjugated by fear, showing their subservience.

"Hello, Miss Espada," the plant-like hollow greeted with a smile, looking away from the battered moth for a few seconds before returning to attempting to treat the other's wounds. It was a rather ineffective effort considering all she could do was apply pressure to still bleeding areas with her stubs of yet-regenerated vines. "My name is Clematis, and I will be speaking for my dear leader Ellzea considering her current condition. We will follow whatever orders you have for us."

"We will be traveling back to Las Noches." Harribel watched as the plant nodded her head a few times.

"Rudbornn, would you be so kind as to make a few soldiers to carry Geero and Ellzea for a while?" Clematis said with a grin to the bull hollow. "I am sure you wouldn't want to annoy the Espada with how slow these two would be when you could so clearly assist. Yes?" she chirped happily despite the threat behind her words.

"How irritating you are," Rudbornn muttered, already calling forth several of his created hollows to haul around the injured knowing that they would be extraordinarily slow if he didn't. Immediately the creatures went to the sides of Geero and Ellzea. The giant bird was unfortunate; its large size meant it would be dragged through the sand until it woke up. Ellzea just wore a look of pure disgust at the creatures touching her.

"Thank you, Rudbornn!" Clematis forced herself upright on the few vines on her lower body still able to bear her weight, now satisfied the others wouldn't be too much of a burden. She wanted to get to Las Noches as soon as she could, too. "Lord Aizen will be so happy to have you! Your power will be really helpful, I'm sure. The rest of us will have to try so hard to be useful," she snickered, looking to the hollows that had refused to even fight against Ulquiorra earlier. There was no guarantee they would get to be Arrancar. They would gain absolutely nothing for their servitude. "How sad for us. Not being useful, well that's no good at all." She barely finished before falling into a fit of giggles. Her fate was not as abysmal as theirs with the new drama she had discovered.

"Damn, she's weird," Apacci muttered. "Too happy for someone that just got their ass kicked."

"Despite your crude choice of words, I agree," Sung-Sun added with narrowed eyes.

Even if Mila-Rose remained silent, her exaggerated look of disgust showed she fully agreed with both of her allies' opinion for once.

"Miss Espada, I apologize for the delay, but we are ready now," she said with a bow to Harribel. "And, Mr. Espada, I do hope your friend wakes up soon. It would be a shame if Aracelis is hurt badly, wouldn't it?" Clematis grinned even if he completely ignored her. "I'd love to speak with her later, just to know what she thinks of."

With Clematis's rather odd comment, Harribel regarded the plant in a questioning manner. Her tone while talking about Aracelis… The plant had been teasing him. Harribel was unsure of what exactly the conversation was supposed to mean, if anything, but that tone could only be taken as mocking.

Harribel wordlessly turned, expecting the hollows to follow her lead. Her Fracción would surround them as they traveled, ensuring that the Adjuchas could not escape. And, should one manage to get away from her, Ulquiorra would be waiting. Even if he had to carry Aracelis all the way back to Las Noches, he could easily kill any of the Adjuchas that sought to escape. They would not be getting a second chance- Lord Aizen ordered any that flee following the initial capture be eliminated seeing as they could not follow commands obediently enough to be a useful part of the army. She hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As soon as Harribel and the other hollows were a distance away, Ulquiorra kneeled down next to Aracelis, flipping her over onto her back. While she remained fast asleep, she grumbled in response to being moved, a grimace barely visible underneath her hair that had been disheveled during battle and now obscured much of her face. Immediately his eyes went to her stomach to access her injury.

The tattered remains of her shirt around the area were stained rust colored with dried blood, white grains of sand clinging to the cloth as well. Without a second thought he ripped the bottom half of her shirt off, tossing the filthy scrap to the side. Underneath, the fresh blood on the wound glistened with the light of the moon instead of going completely through to revel sand. An identical wound was likely mirrored on her back. She had been able to heal most of the internal damage when using her resurrección, allowing her to regenerate faster than the poison could kill the tissue. To test how deep the injury went, he poked his finger into it, earning a distressed whimper from Aracelis that made him stop near instantly. It had been enough for him to tell that she would be healed in the next hour or so, the poison losing its effects now that time had passed.

As he looked back to her face, he could see her lips moving as she silently muttered things. To get a better look he ended up brushing the hair out of her face, carefully laying strands back to where she usually kept them. He then tilted her head towards him, resting his hand on a section of her mask and some of her cheek as he studied her. For a few moments he watched as she agitatedly whispered in her sleep, a deep set frown on her face as she sneered in response to whoever she imagined she was speaking with. Much of what he could make out was her saying "shut up" repeatedly while throwing in the occasional "no, you're the idiot" or "I don't care." In other words, she was incoherent and her mutterings held no discernable importance.

"Wake up," he ordered flatly, hoping it wouldn't take much to wake her from what appeared to a fitful sleep.

She only paused for a second in her ramblings before mouthing "Shut the hell up."

"Aracelis," he tried, thinking that using her name might get more of a response seeing as she usually gave him more attention when he used it.

She fell silent, retaining a scowl. It only lasted a few moments before she returned to muttering.

He would have shaken her awake if he knew how she would react. For now, she seemed herself, subconsciously aware enough to recognize his voice in her sleep. If he woke her up forcibly she might revert to what had fought him earlier. It certainly hadn't been her. Of this, he was sure. Aracelis would never attack him. No, even in the past she did not lash out at him. Instead she always asked if he wished to fight before attacking him. Then, in battle, she remained conscientious, never doing something that would potentially cause great harm or death. The bala aimed for his head earlier, she would never do such a thing. If there was one thing he was willing to admit, it was that he trusted Aracelis would never physically injury him, especially on purpose or through a sneak attack.

That left him with the uncomfortable fact that she had not been in control of herself. He glanced to her shoulder where the skull had been resting earlier. Now the only sign something strange had been there was the scarring over her shoulder. A separate hollow, perhaps? Arrieniero consisted of two hollows, it was possible another like him existed. However, if considering how the two held a mutual coexistence and a connected consciousness, this could not describe Aracelis. No, the two had very different goals- one to kill him and the other to… to care about him? Whatever it was she wanted. That was beside the point.

It was a rather bizarre event for two hollows to come together and maintain any semblance of differentiated consciousness beyond the Guillian stage. A parasite, then? An equally rare occurrence as a creature like Arrieniero, but the only other thing he could think of that made any amount of sense. She had admitted the scarring had been there from the beginning of her existence as a hollow, that perhaps being the point of entry for the parasite. It may have evolved in parallel with her or simply leeched of her as she gained ranks. Such fragile, dependent creatures usually did target weaker souls, so it was unlikely it attached later on in her evolution. Typically a parasitic hollow would feed on spiritual energy until it drained the host completely. With Aracelis's ability to absorb radiant reishi, that time would never come, unless she was physically exhausted and on the edge of death.

The parasite wouldn't want to lose such a convenient host. After she had been injured by the moth and Clematis's attacks, it felt threatened. Once Aracelis passed out it assumed control to keep her, and it, alive. Why it decided to attack him remained to be seen, unless it held minimal sense of what happened outside of her body when she was in control. How much it could influence her was undeterminable. He could try asking her but if it turned out that it could erase her existence if found out…

He would lose her again.

He clenched his jaw tight, catching himself before he went off on that tangent. Damn that plant's ability. It had forced him to relive exactly what he worked so hard to repress. Aracelis had always been the root of his irrationality, so he had banished her memory. Nothingness. He thrived in the nothingness of that tree, in that empty existence of a hollow without purpose, believing only what he could see. And now she was back, forcing him to consider things as ridiculous and intangible as emotions.

Thinking about this could wait. He needed to at least shorten the distance between the pack of hollows and himself, because ignoring his orders was not something he was about to do just because Aracelis had proven to have yet more problems than he first believed. That was the absolute last thing he needed to be _worrying_ about. Lord Aizen's orders came first. His existence was for the sole purpose of Lord Aizen's cause. Following orders loyally was his purpose. This war was his purpose. That was what he had decided when leaving that tree behind and he would not go back on that. Not now.

He looked back to her, noticing that he still had his hand resting on her face. Before moving her, he removed his hand to reach to her side, confiscating her sword. For safekeeping he slipped it through his sash next to his own. After a second of staring at her, he moved to grab her under her arms, hauling her to her feet. She fell limply against his chest. He froze, unsure how he felt with her touching him. He never had anyone this close to him, conscious or otherwise, and now he would be carrying her for quite distance. Immediately she ceased her muttering as well. He concluded that she had… That she had found comfort in his presence. She… She would at least be easier to carry like this. Finally he moved his hands her hips before tossing her onto his shoulder, holding her behind her knees to keep her from sliding off. No matter how he carried her it would be awkward considering she was just shy of being as tall as him and relatively the same size. This way he could still use his other arm easily should the need to arise.

Honestly, he shouldn't be bothering with this. He should just leave the troublesome woman behind. He certainly didn't need her. Nor did he like her. No, the plant was wrong in saying that, in insinuating he _cared_ about her, daring to say Aracelis was his weakness. There was no such attachment between them. If she died then he would be fine with that. He no longer had any reason to keep her alive. In fact, he should just kill her. She had caused him many problems, jeopardizing the success of this mission, even. He would be justified in punishing her for disobeying orders. He likely wouldn't get in trouble for it, not after she attacked him. Killing her would be best.

No matter how many he times he tried to convince himself of that, he found it impossible to act upon. Instead he just kept walking, carrying her with him.

* * *

 **A/N- I hope the reveal of Aracelis's predicament entertained you! I actually didn't have that planned until much later, but… Ulquiorra wouldn't miss something like that. He's too smart to. He knows how Aracelis acts and would see that something is** _ **very**_ **wrong with her and connect it all together. That doesn't mean he knows how to get it out without potentially killing her, though, so this is far from a resolved issue. I got the general idea of a parasitic hollow from the** _ **Fade to Black**_ **movie, so it isn't outside the realm of possibility in Bleach and hopefully a good idea. Hopefully not completely out of the blue either because I did say Aracelis nearly considered her instinct separate because of how different they were, among other things. Eventually, I will get to explaining Aracelis's powers a bit more too.**

 **It was also very strange to pretty much only use Ulquiorra's POV this chapter… I hope he's in character in the sense that, while quite upset mentally, he wouldn't have shown any of it outwardly. And that he knows that he treats Aracelis differently but he doesn't know why (or is in quite the amount of denial over it), and when he doesn't understand something he seems to get quite irritated (threatening to rip Orihime apart to find her heart, for example).**

 **Oh, and with Rudbornn, it was mentioned at some point in the wiki that he may have known Dordoni before Aizen happened, so I went with the idea that Dordoni had been Rudbornn and Clematis' leader before he left to join Aizen to gain power, Clematis then assuming the leadership position. Later, then, Dordoni returned to collect then for the army but didn't take them back when they refused, getting himself in trouble, later becoming a Privaron Espada for both his actions and being weaker than the current creations with the Hogyoku. Then Rudbornn and Clematis joined up with others to form this hollow 'rebellion.' Honestly just a little fun I had thinking about pre-Aizen Hueco Mundo that I decided to incorporate.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to NameWithNoMeaning, CamoCountryGirl, chasegirl11, DarkLordFanBoy, and SashaPayne56 for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan- Yeah, her spacing out definitely didn't help her, haha. And correct! She reached her resurrección, although** _ **she**_ **didn't get to have fun with it. Instinct is most certainly more nefarious than being her sword (one of your earlier reviews had made me so excited to reveal this). I hope you enjoyed that twist! Aracelis is Número 57, which is after like Sung-Sun or one of them, which is why I had to introduce a batch because, other than Rudbornn, there is a gap to 77 which is Wonderweiss (and his creation is in the show, so this was an attempt to work in the timeline). Thank you for sticking around and reviewing!**

 **YingWhiteyWolf- Thank you, I happy to hear you like Aracelis's character and her infatuation! And that you think Ulquiorra is being cute in the weird sense he is completely oblivious or in complete denial with anything Aracelis related. Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Sissy- Thank you for leaving a review! I hope this chapter pleases you; I'm glad this was good enough to get you hooked! I usually end up updating every two weeks on the weekend, just in case you'd like to know for future reference to make it easier to keep track of.**


	16. Chapter 16- Mixed Signals

Aracelis slowly became aware, the first thing she noticed being the sensation of movement. All the blood pooled in her head meant she was upside-down. Rather odd position to wake up in, really. She honestly couldn't figure out what was going on with her eyes closed. More importantly, though, she was alive, and well, that was an improvement from her last memory before passing out. She had been sure Ulquiorra would leave her to be killed by those hollows. Had he decided to help her, then? Ulquiorra had to be pissed off with her performance during that battle. At this point, considering how pathetically stupid she had been, it was easier to believe that maybe Harribel had shown up and saved her. He would have left her behind.

After a bit of effort, she forced her tired eyes open, groaning groggily. From her strange view point she could only see a bit of the ground and… Her face heated up. C-coattails. And that could only mean one person. He had… She was… She stiffened, recognizing that he had been carrying her over his shoulder for probably the entire time she was passed out. Had… Had he actually decided to save her? And to choose to carry her himself- surely he could have had someone else do it. Or just left her there, unconscious and injured.

As usual, nothing made sense to her.

She shifted again, not knowing what the hell to do with herself. Just… the position she was in certainly wasn't helping her think. All the blood in her head only worsened when she began to blush. That got even worse once she started to consider how awkward the entire situation was with her arms dangling down a fraction away from smacking into his backside. It was just… It wasn't helping. So she kept moving to figure out how to fix her strange predicament.

"Quit fidgeting or you will fall."

Immediately she froze, making a small squeak, his voice startling her as it broke the absolute silence. Of course, her face flushed even more-if possible- now that he confirmed that he knew she was awake. That he probably had known this entire time.

Finally she decided to cross her arms awkwardly in front of her chest, forearms resting against his back. With the movement, she noticed that she was bizarrely _not_ in pain. She wouldn't say comfortable given her position, but still, the lack of pain was odd considering the last time she'd been awake she had a gaping hole through her gut.

"Is my wound healed?" she asked, mainly to herself. For that thing to feel completely healed, quite some time must have passed. Had she been unconscious _that_ long? She found it amazing that he would have carried her that long- or at all.

At her remark, he stopped in his tracks. Within a second she felt hands on her hips, him sliding her down and setting her directly in front of him. She fell forward as soon as he stopped supporting her, her face smacking into his shoulder while she dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt to keep from falling completely. Her knees shook, legs dead tired and numb from lack of blood. Once she stood steadily, she nervously met his gaze as she released the front of his shirt from her grip. Despite his face being as blank as ever, his emerald eyes not revealing much either, she felt a little more at ease. He didn't seem furious at least. Indifference, in this case, was preferable to the alternative.

"What is the last thing you remember?" he asked bluntly, studying her with an intense stare that nearly made her take a step back.

"I, um," she muttered, glancing off to the side for a second. He was standing much too close; there was certainly less than an arm's length between them. He had wanted an answer to the question so immediately that he didn't even care about personal space- his _or_ hers.

"I remember you entering your resurrección, and how terrified those hollows were of you," she finished with a slight laugh. "You'd killed that lizard looking Adjucha so fast I barely even saw you move. They started targeting me after seeing how untouchably powerful you were." She shrugged slightly, softly ending with, "Then I blacked out."

If he took her words as wholly truthful, then she had not been conscious at all while using her resurrección. Ulquiorra found it hard to believe that a mere parasite could have full control over a body, let alone that of a Vasto Lorde turned Arrancar. Her behavior during battle had hinted at that fact, however. Her unnatural silence could be taken as the parasite having limited ability to control all functions, just able to fight to ensure survival. Although this was purely speculation because the parasite could have very well just chosen not to speak. Still, it was likely that the parasite could not take control of her body unless she was gravely injured or passed out. Otherwise there would be no sense in not maintaining control over her all of the time, effectively stealing her body for itself.

"So," Aracelis spoke up, getting a bit uncomfortable with him silently staring her down like some experiment under study. "How did that wound heal? Have I been asleep that long or what?"

Should he tell her everything? If he were wrong about the parasite's level of control, telling her may prompt it to retaliate. "The wound healed upon the release of your sword," he settled on, knowing that it would be enough to distract her. He would wait until he determined the parasite's control, as well as the likelihood of it taking over her completely if he told her about it.

"Really!?" Aracelis bounced a few times, too giddy to act like a proper, scary hollow instead of an excited, childish girl. "What was it-" she cut herself off, now noticing something smudged across his forehead, just barely visible underneath a lock of his hair. She hesitantly reached up, giving him plenty of time to stop her if he had wanted. Instead he allowed her to gently brush the hair out of the way before she began to rub what was obviously blood off of his forehead. "Did you get hurt?"

He chose to ignore her, which earned him a quick glare before she returned to her work. "A minor scratch fascinates you more than your own resurrección?" She was overly concerned over something so insignificant. An already healed wound had her worried? Such a ridiculous woman. If this were her reaction to such a minor injury, her reaction if he told her she had caused it… He would spare her that if just to keep her from fussing over him even more. She would be intolerable if she only apologized.

"Do be more aware of your appearance," Aracelis said, doing the absolute worst impression of him she could in response to his mocking her. Of course she cared that he had gotten hurt. It was probably her fault seeing as she had to go pass out in the middle of battle, maybe distracting him considering he did seem to want to keep her alive all of a sudden. Not that that was a bad thing. She just didn't want him getting hurt on account of her own idiocy. "Running around with blood across your face is quite undignified."

"Is this some form of petty revenge for my earlier actions?" He asked with her mocking restatement of his words, nearly mirroring what he had done on a whim with her earlier.

She rolled her eyes, returning her arm to her side now that the blood was cleaned off. "Maybe," she pouted, avoiding eye contact as she added an annoyed huff. No, she had been genuinely concerned, if not a bit guilty, that he had gotten hurt, even if worrying about him was the most ridiculous thing in the world. Ulquiorra could take care of himself, clearly, and didn't need anybody's help, or empathy, ever. Apparently didn't stop her from caring though. It never did.

"So, about my resurrección," she prompted after a pause, getting back to the topic she herself had derailed. She was still curious about it. More than curious, actually. "Did you happen to catch the name and command?" She sure as hell didn't remember, and it's not like Ulquiorra would lie about her using it. Not only did she stupidly trust him, there just wasn't any seeable advantage to lying about it.

"I had not heard," he reluctantly admitted. It was debatable if she had even spoken it aloud, but the fact remained he had been focused on Clematis's words to him. He did not expect Aracelis to remember anyway. _She_ had been unconscious. The parasite likely didn't allow her to use her resurrección because of all the spiritual energy it drained from her. With how she drew in every trace of his spiritual pressure right now, it proved one or both of them felt starved after such activity.

"Oh." Aracelis didn't hide her disappointment. She wouldn't be able to do it again freely, then. Her instinct apparently decided when she got to, if she was remembering what it said correctly. She had taken quite the beating after that when that plant hollow blasted her with ceros. That had knocked her a bit silly. Her memory was a bit fuzzy over the exact words exchanged after that attack. "Then did I at least get my hollow form back?"

"Presumably." He had no idea what she had looked like as regular hollow other than her lackluster description of a dragonfly. No, she was always the odd, torn-masked woman that went around terrorizing others with her boredom. How much her form had changed after becoming an Arrancar was only answerable by her. "You had regained two sets of wings," he began, already knowing that had been one point she incessantly brought up. He was surprised she kept quiet when a wide grin appeared on her face. "Additionally you gained a bladed tail and claws."

"Awesome," she squealed, not able to contain herself, the last bit of her restraint gone. Those were exactly what she missed with this human form. The damage she could do was so limited when compared with what sharpened claws and a tail could do. Not to mention her wings made maneuvering near effortless. "What else?"

"Plating over much of your torso."

"Really!?" She began cackling, more than pleased with what her resurrección had to offer. That plating was a bonus she hadn't expected. Now if only she could use it voluntarily. "I missed having _some_ form of armor, because clearly I lack a thick hierro like this. Or any, really." She frowned slightly at that, wondering what the hell went wrong in her evolution that she lost that protection most other hollows seemed to retain. "Is that a skill or something?" she muttered to herself, glancing off to the ground, under the assumption that would be all he had to say.

Ulquiorra nearly answered her rhetorical question. He knew the answer to that deficient skill now. A hierro was formed through hardening spiritual energy near the surface of the skin; an impossible feat for a hollow that drew all energy inward. Not that this was really important. He had something else to confirm.

"Did you always have a skull-shaped structure over your right shoulder?"

Aracelis jerked her head up to look at him, eyebrow raised. "No?" The phrasing of that question bothered her. He almost sounded suspicious? Maybe she had imagined the slight shift in tone, but his analytic glare locked onto her shoulder made her nervous. "I had some plating that went over it, like the left, but no skull looking thing," she added, hoping it helped whatever he was thinking over so intensely.

When he remained silent she shifted nervously, nearly falling back over, remembering too late that her legs could barely support her.

"Ulquiorra?" she hesitantly questioned after another irrationally long seeming second. She just did not like this look at all. Her skin nearly crawled with how twitchy she was beginning to feel. Whatever he had planned she wouldn't like, not at all.

He ignored her, still focused solely on her arm. He grabbed her shoulder, fingertips digging into her skin right away.

"W-what are you doing?" Aracelis panicked. His grip only tightened, a twitch away from puncturing skin. If she couldn't convince him otherwise, he would rip her apart to find whatever answer he was looking for. "N-no, you can't just… Just tear my arm off," she sputtered, hands quickly grabbing his wrist loosely just to show she didn't like this. In the end, if he decided to tear her arm off, there wasn't much she could do about it. There would be no fighting him off. While he did not let up the pressure, he paused to look at her wordlessly.

 _Don't you dare let him tear off our arm just because he feels like it!_ Instinct chimed in, only adding to the panic.

"What… What if my regeneration doesn't work, or…" Aracelis struggled to find something that would change his mind, having no idea what was so damn important about some skull over her shoulder. "Why is this so important? Maybe…. Maybe I just look different now. You didn't look like you did as an Adjucha when you used yours, s-so why can't I just be the same?" That was a good argument, right? He didn't look the same. He couldn't justify tearing her apart for the same thing, could he?

He looked away, tightening his grip. Already bruising skin was about to break open.

"Ulquiorra!" Aracelis nearly yelled, trying to pry his hand off her shoulder to no avail, now irrationally terrified that he would go through with this. "Ulquiorra, please, don't!"

And then he stopped. Ulquiorra dropped his hand back to his side. As Aracelis let out a breath of relief and directed her attention to the ground, he considered what he had learned from that. If her shoulder was where it was located, then the parasite would have surely taken control under threat of him tearing her apart. While she still panicked at the prospect, the parasite must not be able to take over unless Aracelis was heavily injured or unconscious.

He, by all means, should have still torn her arm off. Her expression... Underneath the confusion and fear, she appeared… Upset? Sad? Some foreign _emotion_ he had only seen after threatening to kill her for disrespecting Aizen. That look, combined with her begging, had somehow forced him to stop.

"Were you about to cry?" Not that it concerned him. He just didn't understand that expression, nor his reaction to it.

"No!" She snapped, immediately sending a glare his way. What the hell was he doing playing around with her like this? Did he have any idea how screwed up this was? For him to go from threatening her to what could only be called concern? She took a step forward, poking him in the chest with a finger as she yelled in his face, "I just didn't want you to tear my damn arm off, you jerk!"

After a moment of him staring silently at her, showing no reaction whatsoever to her anger, she eventually gave a heavy sigh, rolling her eyes as she took a step back. Of course, this didn't go well, her knees giving out for a second to cause her to lose balance. However, this time, she refused to reach out for him. No, instead she stumbled back a few more steps with her arms spread out, making an absolute spectacle of herself. And, once she stopped stumbling, her eyes still focused on her feet, she noticed. Wide-eyed mortification happened to be her first reaction.

Her clothes… Much of her shirt had been charred black, the fabric burnt away to form holes. With how the bottom to her ribcage had been torn off and how the remaining cloth barely covering her chest, she may have well not been wearing a shirt at all. Her pants had at least faired a bit better, although that had merely been because that damn plant had aimed its ceros for her face and torso. But still, the shirt thing, it got her flustered within a second of seeing it.

She whipped around, flinging her arms around herself in one sad attempt to cover herself before she was showing even more than she already was. Of course the sudden movement made her fall off balance again to land in the sand on her knees.

"What is your problem now?" Her dramatics, while somewhat amusing, were not timely. With their conversation, Harribel and the others had moved a distance away. Any longer and the third might decide to send one of her Fracción to see what had caused their delay.

"Y-you don't see anything wrong with this!?" She sent a glare over her shoulder. She'd been like this the entire time too. Did he seriously not notice or did he just not care she was half naked? She quickly faced forward when she felt her face get even hotter, that last thought making things that much worse. "My shirt is pretty much gone."

"And this is a problem," he stated, not fully seeing why this, of all things, upset her. It had to another silly human trait she acquired. Modesty was certainly not observed by hollows considering a grand majority had no need for clothing. Much of the Arrancar only wore clothes because the soul reapers found nudity unsettling. What a truly odd thing she was making him consider. "You already wear fairly revealing clothes." Her current shirt, before the damage, had one strap, no sleeves, and did not cover her lower stomach. Had she truly felt uncomfortable with showing skin she would have chosen something else. Her lack of logic behind this confused him greatly.

"This is different, okay?" Did she really have to explain this to him? Socially inept didn't begin to describe him. That being said, a hollow shouldn't be fretting over something so trivial anyway. Damn human emotions and such got to her again. "This is showing a bit more than I'm comfortable with. And I've probably worn clothes longer than you've been a damn hollow, all right? Can you blame me for being accustomed to having something covering me?" She paused for moment before quietly adding, "And this is… embarrassing. I don't want to be seen like this, okay?" Under her breath she muttered, "Especially by you." What a terrible thing to admit, but that is what was going on sadly. She probably wouldn't have cared as much had she been with Harribel.

Ulquiorra watched as she did what could only be described as sulking by the way she drooped her shoulders. Aracelis made it clear she would not be moving from that spot until her 'problem' was resolved. He could just go pick her up and carry her against her will, but she would resist. Carrying her while she kicked and screamed did not sound practical, nor enjoyable. He could knock her out, of course, but then he would have to keep doing that every time she came to- Las Noches, at the rate they were going, was a few days away. Every time she fell unconscious the parasite might decide to take control of her as well. And he certainly wasn't about to go ask Harribel to give his idiotic Fracción some clothes- he couldn't send Aracelis alone seeing as she couldn't make it two steps without falling over. That left him with one option.

"Why does it look ripped and not scorched?" Aracelis muttered in irritation, examining the bottom of her shirt more carefully. What had she been doing in her resurrección that her clothes ended up like this? Her shirt certainly wasn't like this when she had passed out earlier.

Her mind ran blank when she heard him walking towards her. Frozen in place, she couldn't even force herself to look over her shoulder. He would make her go whether she wanted to or not. After all, she was wasting time by refusing to move over something he clearly declared trivial. The longer she screwed around like this, the further Harribel and the others got- now that she had a moment to think about it, it became obvious Ulquiorra and her were to chase down any escapees that ran their way. She would just have to get over it… Or at least pretend to. While fighting about him tearing off an arm was valid, torn fabric certainly wasn't.

When she turned her head to admit to being ridiculous, her face met a very peculiar sight indeed. In an outstretched hand, he offered her his shirt with a blank, unreadable expression. She could only gawk at him. Both because she didn't expect him to willingly hand over his shirt, as well as the fact he stood there without a shirt. Surprisingly muscular for his relatively slender build. She certainly hadn't considered that he would be so muscular. Not that she thought about that a lot. Maybe a bit, but not a lot. That would be weird, right? Even by human standards?

He frowned slightly, watching as her face grew red again as she apparently thought something over. Strange woman. After all she complained, the moment he offered a solution she fell silent and bewildered. "Aracelis."

That snapped her out of her awkward chain of thought. "Th-thank you," she muttered. Immediately she reached to take his more than generous offering. As soon as she had the fabric held to her chest she stood up, somehow managing to keep herself steady enough to shrug one arm into the sleeve. In the end, when she had it fully on, she found it fit disturbingly well. The jacket actually fit well in the shoulders, something she expected wouldn't happen with much of the female Arrancar's wardrobe options that she had seen. A little tight over the chest, but that was just because the fabric wasn't sewn to accommodate breasts. She probably wouldn't have gotten it zipped if she were as busty as, say, Harribel. As soon as the fabric hit her scarred shoulder she was reminded why she detested sleeves of any sort. Itching at her shoulder, she turned, ready to face him now. Maybe.

In a show of apparent impatience, he instantly had his hands on her hips, prepared to throw her back over his shoulder.

"Hey now," Aracelis laughed, albeit a bit nervously, as she wrapped a hand around one of his wrists to get him to not pick her up while she spoke. "That is seriously the most awkward way to carry someone. You think we could try something else?"

"And what do you propose?"

"Oh, well…" That had been shockingly easy. He must have found it equally awkward, then. "I guess… I don't know," she shrugged, releasing his wrist now that she had his attention. "I guess maybe I could cling to your back or something. I mean, I'm awake enough that I could hold on, and you can just drop me if you need to."

When he dropped his hands to his side she took it as him agreeing. After that he turned around, not forcing her to walk seeing as she would likely topple over. With his back to her, Aracelis hesitantly took a step forward. She reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, retracting her hand while biting her lip. What a brilliant solution she had come up with, because now she would have to cling to his bare torso for who knows how long. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

A glance over his shoulder forced her to shove her embarrassment aside. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders, hopping so he could grab her legs as she wrapped them around his waist. In whole, both were uncomfortable, this only a moderate improvement from before. As soon as she wouldn't fall, he used sonido to close the unreasonable gap between them and others. Of course they were still far enough away that they wouldn't see each other.

Neither spoke for a while. Aracelis found herself trying to find a comfortable way to position her head considering she either got his mask jabbing into her face, or he got hers. Eventually she gave up and rested her chin on her arm with her head cocked to the side awkwardly.

Her eyes wandered back to another detail she had caught earlier. To the side of his hollow hole, tattooed onto his white skin was a '4." He'd failed to mention that all the Espada had their ranks tattooed on them- she had mentioned seeing Grimm-who cares' rank on his back. What an odd way to display ranks. Made her wonder who schemed up that weird idea. Not that it looked bad or anything; the high contrast of black on white matched his overall look. She almost wanted to trace over it but fought the strange impulse. She clearly needed a distraction, which came from a thought that popped into her head.

"Hey, Ulquiorra." She grinned, knowing it would be hard for him to tune her out when she pretty much spoke directly into his ear. "I just thought of something. Why did it never occur to me that I could have made you fly me around when you were an Adjucha?" She held back laughter, nearly bursting when she felt him tense up with the suggestion. "Are you relieved I hadn't?" He ignored her, but she grinned to herself. "You know, maybe this isn't all too bad. Had I not been clinging to you I would have missed that precious reaction."

She squeaked when he suddenly let go of her legs, almost falling to the ground because she had loosened her hold while giggling.

"It is not wise to mock someone carrying you around," he said indifferently as he returned to supporting her.

Aracelis pouted, seeing that he had done it purposely to get back at her. "Ha, ha, you're so funny." Despite trying not to, she did end up smiling. He had seemed angry with her earlier, but now his mood had improved enough to tease her.

After another stretch of walking silently, Aracelis sighed, bothered by something still. "Ulquiorra, I'm sorry for how useless I've been. I mean, I'm even forcing you to carry me, and I certainly didn't help much back in that fight either."

Her sincere apology, he did not know how to react to it. He still did not understand this new tendency of hers to apologize to him, not when she had been absolutely unapologetic in the past. Surely he did not scare her so badly that she felt the need to apologize for her actions as a form of pleading. Unless that was not her intention.

"I am not here to comfort you," he said flatly. He would not validate her mistakes by telling her it wasn't her fault. She had been distracted and allowed the moth the opportunity to injure her.

"Yeah, I know," she scoffed. "I wasn't looking for your pity. I was just admitting that I screwed up so you didn't think I thought I did well. That's what you thought, right? That I was just looking for you to reassure me I did well?" She huffed, blowing a strand of his hair out her face. Sure, if he did try to comfort her, she would happily accept, but that just wasn't him. "You're so frustrating sometimes, Ulquiorra. I try to do something to please you, and you change your mind and take it the wrong way," she mumbled, scowl on her face. That had been the ongoing theme of their conversation since she had woken up. The mixed signals were driving her up a wall.

"If that is the case," he began, ignoring her last mutterings, "I will admit you were not wholly useless. Had you not been injured, however, I would have perhaps praised your efforts." Now that he knew she wouldn't take the compliment as acceptance of her mistake, he could admit she had done fairly well. She had killed off the weaker hollows despite a hole through her stomach, and her resurrección had been interesting- he had seen exactly what he wanted to when he had decided to bring her with.

"Wow, thanks. What a great reward. Praise from the almighty Ulquiorra Cifer," Aracelis sarcastically remarked, thinking 'Damn, he knew.' She loved compliments. He'd figured that out and could use it against her now.

"What had you been distracted by?" He did not understand that still.

"I… um… I was watching you…" After biting her lip she quickly spat out, "I was admiring how powerful that cero had been. And you threatening those hollows."

"I see." Despite understanding this now, he frowned a bit. She had been impressed with him, so she had focused all of her attention on him to admire him. He… He understood this. When he had been watching her rip apart that hollow and eat it… All of his attention had been on her in that moment. That had been similar to how she had viewed him in that moment, he concluded. "You're a ridiculous woman."

Aracelis just rolled her eyes, remaining quiet because he obviously found something to think over. She could do the same then, because his actions confused her to no end. At moments he appeared to care about her, while others he held her with utter indifference. He would playfully tease her, but then he would use her trust to manipulate her into doing what he wished. This back and forth created so much tension. She didn't understand why he was doing this.

Unless… Unless he was confused too. He had never been one to understand emotions, and all she seemed able to do recently was react emotionally. And she'd been pushing him too… She hadn't exactly been considering how her damn infatuation with him affected him. It did alter her behavior towards him. He could only see the irrationality in actions or admit to being confused by them. Both would upset him. She had been selfish, expecting him to understand something so stupid so soon just for her sake.

But… there had been _some_ of what she would call an improvement. He seemed a bit more comfortable with physical contact. Carrying her like this, of course, made him uncomfortable- it made _her_ uncomfortable. It was just too much, but smaller acts… He did not seem bothered when standing near her. He had allowed her to clean blood off his forehead. Hell, he initiated contact, dragging her along by her wrist back in Las Noches and wiping blood from her face. That counted for something, right? He mustn't hate her at least. Probably not captivated by her like she was him, but he did more than just tolerate her. Even if he wouldn't admit to it, he must care about her to some degree. Otherwise he would have let Clematis kill her, he would have left her behind to die, and he wouldn't have chosen to carry her.

Hope, what a terrible thing to have. If things miraculously worked out, that hope would turn to happiness. If it didn't she'd have crushing despair. She'd learned this from experience. She'd been so grateful when she found a hollow to be her companion, to not be alone anymore, but then she was thrown back into that loneliness tenfold when she lost him.

She tilted her head, leaning her cheek into the side of his head, closing her eyes. She would have to enjoy this while she could, then, before the uncertain future came. That was all she could do. "Hey, Ulquiorra," she mumbled, "I think I'm going to sleep a bit more." That exhaustion from earlier had hit her again, making her feel completely drained of energy. If she thought she could walk, she would have considered going off to hunt a few weaker hollows. Right now, though, there was one thing that could probably help. "And… And could you increase your spiritual pressure a bit? It's… it's sort of helping me not feel as tired."

"I am not here for you to feed off as you please." Ulquiorra, however, did slightly increase his spiritual pressure now that he knew it had been helping her. The sooner she could walk on her own, the better. Carrying her around like this, he did not like how he was growing used to it so quickly.

"Yeah, yeah," Aracelis said with a tired giggle, barely managing to open her eyes to glance at him. "If I thought you were just food, I would have eaten you ages ago." She closed her eyes again, ready to sleep. "Thank you, though, for humoring my weird request."

She quickly fell asleep, lulled by the steady motion of him walking.

* * *

 **A/N- I. ah, don't have much to say about the chapter itself seeing as it** **was just developing the relationship dynamics between the two confused hollows… A bit of calm after the chaos of battle before returning to Las Noches.**

 **I am really surprised I got this done, and by done I mean I really rushed through editing, so sorry for possibly more mistakes than usual. I've been putting off homework and it caught up with me this week...**

 **Thank you for reading! Hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Thank you to NSchwerte and for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- I'm glad you found that plot twist enjoyable because I got really excited when you first called instinct her zanpakutuo! I'm happy it ended up being a surprise rather than something predictable- sometimes I feel I am quite predictable. And Ulquiorra. Poor, confused, Ulquiorra… He just doesn't understand what he is feeling or why (and neither does Aracelis, really). Orihime does need to come help the two sort through some things, huh? Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you find this chapter as enjoyable as the last!**


	17. Chapter 17- LoveHate

Screeching rang out as the bird hollow thrashed about, crushing the skulled-soldiers carrying the formerly unconscious creature. The commotion caused the entire group to come to a grinding halt and stare as the dim-witted hollow squawked while flailing its wings about to create clouds of dust from the sand. Mila-Rose and Apacci stepped forward to deal with the yet rebellious bird while Harribel and Sung-Sun kept an eye on the reaction of the other hollows. And suddenly another skulled-soldier was flung through the air, smacking the bird in the face before falling limply to the ground with a thud, already dead before being thrown.

"Shut the hell up, Geero!" The moth hollow snapped, struggling to remain upright after tossing away one of Rudbornn's soldiers, the other not quite enough to hold up the larger, heavier creature. The bird whipped around at her voice to stare blankly through a partially shattered mask. "We're done fighting, dumbass."

The large creature looked around, then fully understanding that they had been defeated soon after Ulquiorra had smashed apart Geero's mask. He settled down with a defeated growl, letting feathered wings rest by his side instead of wildly beating up a sandstorm.

"Miss Espada," Clematis chimed in, getting nasty glares from all of Harribel's Fracción- the plant had a problem keeping her mouth shut. The entire trip thus far had been filled with sporadic laughter at nothing or falsely sweet, childish remarks. Not to mention the most insincere sounding politeness in her every word. Except towards Harribel. The plant seemed eager to please her. "May I perhaps make a suggestion now that dear Geero has woken up?"

Harribel's glance shifted between her three subordinates before returning to the smiling plant. The creature was… odd. She bothered her Fracción immensely. This Clematis, while having been part of a rebel group that long resisted Aizen's rule, seemed unnaturally eager to reach Las Noches. It almost seemed as if the creature had an ulterior motive, or if this were a game for her enjoyment.

Clematis assumed she had permission to continue as the reserved Espada kept attention on her. "Geero will be able to carry a few of the slower hollows, like Ellzea. While we would still be unable to match your sonido, it would allow us to travel a bit quicker."

Harribel gave a slight nod. Arriving back to Las Noches sooner would be better. Aizen had mentioned wishing to start his plans once he had more soldiers at his disposal. She would not want to keep him waiting longer than necessary.

"That bird can't carry you all," Mila-Rose scoffed, catching Appaci's approval in the form of a nod. "You don't seem that fast, weed."

"Oh, I am not," Clematis giggled, relishing the grimaces on the two's faces at her voice. "That is why Rudbornn shall carry me." On cue, she turned to the bull Adjucha as he was about to object. She gave a terrifying grin that split her mask in half. "The faster we get to Las Noches, the faster you get rid of me. That would be good, yes?" She laughed off the silent glare aimed at her. "Besides, Licidae is much too small and Geero can only carry so many. I would hate to make one of our superiors carry me, if they would even consider such. You're the best choice."

"You are a truly disgusting creature. I will destroy you as soon as I am able." Rudbornn walked closer as he cursed the creature he would be carrying back to Las Noches. "Once I have the power of a god I will crush you like bug."

"Yes, yes. Rudbornn is _so_ powerful and scary." Clematis smiled, already creeping forward to latch onto her ride. How convenient his fear was; so obedient to those stronger than him. If only he weren't so full of himself. It would be death of him, she was sure. Such a pathetic way to die for a creature with such an amazing ability that would only be improved with the Hogyoku. "Just keep listening to your superiors or you will be strung up by the neck, choked by your own arrogance, dear Rudbornn."

Once the pack of hollows began to make similar arrangements, mostly directed by Ellzea and Clematis, Harribel returned her attention back to her Fracción. "Apacci."

"Yes, Lady Harribel?" Apacci responded, whipping around to face her leader, dropping the heated whispers between her and Mila-Rose.

"I wish for you to inform Ulquiorra of this new plan." Apacci was the fastest of her Fracción, and well suited for quickly delivering this message. Even if they did not inform the fourth of this directly, he would likely figure it out without having to ask. She had something else in mind. "I would also like for you to check on Aracelis." She could not sense Aracelis; her spiritual pressure since entering Las Noches had been inconsistent, fluctuating between being perceivable to disappearing. She could not tell if Aracelis had recovered because of this oddity.

"All right," Apacci stated, sighing once she looked away. Of course she would want to check up on Aracelis- for whatever reason Harribel seemed to consider her one of their allies. Not that she would prefer talking to the fourth, he was terrifying with his blank, serial killer glare. She found it all very ironic that the Aracelis had been his ally, though. Had obnoxious Aracelis and silent Ulquiorra. Weird combination. She was reluctant to believe it actually. She bet when she showed up, Aracelis wouldn't even be there. She still couldn't believe that Ulquiorra would carry her back. If he bothered to take her at all, he probably dragged her face-first through the sand. Definitely not carry her.

Apacci walked past the other hollows before leaping forward, using sonido to race forward to get her unpleasant chore done as soon as possible.

* * *

"What was that for?" she asked sourly, fighting off a yawn. Aracelis had suddenly found her feet on the ground, her arms still wrapped over his shoulders awkwardly as she stood behind him. It was a very rude way to be woken up. Dropping her for seemingly no reason.

Ulquiorra ignored her, silently prying off one of her hands to free himself.

"Okay, I get it." Aracelis threw her arms up, taking a few steps back. "A little more warning would have been nice you know. I don't even…"

Aracelis's face went blank as she sensed one particular, somewhat irritating Arrancar quickly approaching them. A few seconds later, the black haired, mismatched-eyed Apacci arrived to stand a few yards away from them. Just as Apacci opened her mouth to bark out something, her eyes went wide, eyebrows furrowing as she took in the sight. Her perplexed expression was aimed mainly at Aracelis and the shirt she was wearing, immediately recognizing it as Ulquiorra's. Not that him standing there shirtless made that difficult to see. Apacci stood utterly shocked, mouth on the verge of falling open to properly gape at the truly bizarre sight in front of her.

"You got a problem, antelope-face?" Aracelis snapped, her face beginning to redden. Not only was she embarrassed by this, she knew Ulquiorra would be in the sense that he would not want one of the other Espada using her against him after assuming they had some sort of relationship going. That much Aracelis understood; any possible weakness could be taken advantage in order to attempt to advance ranks. Even if it was just Apacci, she didn't want her getting the wrong idea and spreading it … Although Aracelis rather liked the idea of there to be some sort of relationship between them.

"Shut it, bug-brain," Apacci shouted back while pointing at her, thankfully distracting Aracelis from her own train of thought. "I'm not here to talk to you!"

As soon as Apacci tore her eyes off Aracelis, she fell silent, becoming hesitant now that she caught Ulquiorra's attention. Him just looking at her with a completely blank expression was enough to make her a bit hesitant to speak. Aracelis held back a giggle, seeing how terrified the lower ranked Arrancar were of Ulquiorra delighted her to no end. His authority over them, his control based on how powerful he was… She was sort of jealous. The fact that he scared loud mouth Apacci into silence made it that much more enjoyable.

"L-" Apacci took a breath before continuing confidently. "Lady Harribel asked me to inform you of a change in plan. Some of the faster Adjuchas are going to carry the slower ones so we can get back to Las Noches sooner."

Ulquiorra didn't respond, not even giving a hint of a nod. Silence was his answer when he could see no qualms with the change. There hadn't been a need to inform him; he would have figured it out without someone delivering a message. Clearly the third had been concerned for Aracelis.

Apacci muttered an okay, the irritation in her tone not well-hidden. She gave one last look to Aracelis and her clothes, frowning, before taking off to rejoin the others. Soon enough she was completely out of sight, only a trail of dust left in her wake.

Aracelis stared after her with her arms crossed, wondering why she bothered with telling them something so obvious. It would take an idiot to think that the entire group had gone AWOL with a simple change of pace. And to tell some of the most highly skilled pesquisa users, it made about as much sense as telling Aizen how to manipulate situations to his advantage. Harribel hadn't been _that_ worried, had she? Maybe she just wanted an excuse to check up on her… Aracelis felt like she didn't appreciate Harribel enough.

She sighed, shifting her weight to the side as she went to check if Ulquiorra had anything to say. She understood why he dropped her so suddenly, but still… She had grown quite comfortable being carried. Of course, where he once stood was only slightly disturbed, glaring white sand. Slightly panicked she snapped her attention forward.

"Hey, that wasn't nice," she grumbled, jogging to catch up with him before falling into step at his side. "Ditching me like that. And what happened to carrying your poor, injured subordinate? So mean…" A faked pout turned to her rolling her eyes as he glanced at her through the corner of his eyes. "Fine, I know. I won't pester you."

She had felt well enough to walk for an hour or so now to be honest. She knew it. Ulquiorra knew it. Despite that he carried her, allowing her to rest a bit more than necessary. Aracelis wasn't about to bring his generosity into question. No, if she pointed it out blatantly he would probably deny it.

Her eyes wandered to his hip, having one final complaint to address. "Can I have my sword back now that I'm walking?" Admittedly she hadn't noticed he had it until about an hour ago when she happened to feel it brush her leg, forgetting the blasted weapon even existed. It was a good thing he decided to keep track of it for her. She would like to use her resurrección, and that did require the sword. And, well, she was used to at least having it with her even when it acted merely as decoration. Wordlessly he passed it to her, not sparing a glance at her now. As she slipped the blade into her sash, she declared "And with that, I will shut up."

He didn't seem in the mood for conversation, so she just walked beside him silently, merely enjoying his presence.

* * *

"Aracelis is fine," Apacci half-mumbled once arriving back, eyebrows still drawn together into a tight frown.

The other Fracción quickly caught onto her odd behavior, staring, Mila-Rose first to break the silence by asking condescendingly, "Why so quiet, Apacci? It's not often you use your tiny brain to think."

Apacci completely ignored the insult for the moment, having something better to discuss for once. "I just… I'm just really damn confused about what the hell I just saw," she said in exasperation, throwing her hands out to her side. Both ladies leaned closer to Apacci, even Harribel turning her head in the direction to listen. "She was wearing his shirt! Like, he just handed it over or something?"

"I do believe you need your eyes checked, because certainly something as absurd as that could not have occurred," Sung-Sun replied rather thoughtfully considering she still flung out an insult. She leaned back, sleeve in front of her mouth as her violet eyes glanced at the sky to gather her thoughts. The fourth Espada acting anything but cold-hearted? "That is absolutely odd if I choose to believe you." Even if they had been allies before, Ulquiorra doing anything remotely kind that had no clear benefit to him was ridiculous.

"Aracelis probably bitched until she got him to hand it over; listening to her complain is worse than listening to you two all day." Mila-Rose rolled her eyes despite being confused herself. Ulquiorra would have just made Aracelis shut up or left her behind if he found her annoying. Not lend her a piece of clothing because hers were shredded and bloody. "Even then I don't believe you. You're as blind and dumb a worm." Apacci had to have imagined it somehow. Mila-Rose just couldn't believe what she saw as true.

Just as Apacci went to snap at Mila-Rose, high-pitched, obnoxious giggling interrupted them. The three turned to the plant, now recognizing the sound as hers after listening to it for hours. Clematis sat comfortably on the back of Rudbornn, vines securely wrapped around the obviously irritated bull. Once the giggling tapered off Clematis joined the conversation.

"I believe you, Miss Fracción. I am only surprised he wasn't carrying his dear, injured Aracelis." Clematis sighed, mumbling, "She is so wasted on him. How sad. How very sad. Why would she choose _him_ of all things? Honestly, I would be-"

"Shut up, Clematis," Ellzea interrupted, apparently listening in from her position on the back of the bird. "We've got better things to do than listen to you gush over your latest fascination."

"Yes, yes. Lord Aizen does not appreciate dilly-dallying. I will complain about my dear Aracelis later." Clematis used a free vine to prod at Rudbornn's head. "Move my majestic steed! To Las Noches so you can become an all-powerful god finally able to destroy me!"

With that, Mila-Rose, Apacci, and Sung-Sun all exchanged a mirrored look of disgust towards their newest 'ally-to-be.' At this point they were hoping the cheerful plant got deemed useless because her irritating personality, and then fed to Aaroniero so he could keep whatever power she held. Or just gored by the bull here and now. The only relief they collectively had was Harribel seemed put off by the plant as well, so they wouldn't have to share the title of Fracción with the creature.

With that bizarre conversation concluded, the group resumed travel, albeit at a quickened pace.

* * *

Even as the towers of the immense palace became visible on the horizon, it would take more than a few hours to reach Las Noches itself. The pack of former rebels had accepted their fates, having about two days to actually contemplate their new positions as soldiers. By the time Las Noches came into view it was clear that any fight the hollows had left was no more. For the moment, anyway.

With that in mind, Ulquiorra essentially ordered Aracelis to return to Las Noches with haste. As soon as he returned with the group, she was to be in a presentable state for meeting with Lord Aizen. There would be no tolerance of anything less. A final add-on to her 'chores' was to have him a clean shirt for she had claimed his, covering it in filth. Aracelis had not been amused with his less-than-subtle insult at her appearance. It wasn't entirely her fault he decided to carry her while she had an open wound either. All right, fine, it was, but she still found the comment irritating. She did, however, go on ahead, quickly passing Harribel and the others with sonido as they were still bound by the Adjuchas' limitations.

A short while later she jumped through a window, landing in her room, finding the opening more convenient than ever. This way she didn't risk running into anyone that might actually demand something of her. The only other souls that dared roam around Ulquiorra's quarters were servants, and these few were the tamest, more subjugated bunch in Las Noches. Very rarely did any of the other Espada or Fracción pass by, the soul reapers even more rarely. Unsurprisingly, Ulquiorra wasn't the most popular hollow in Las Noches to chat with.

The first thing she did was swing open the door to the wardrobe, the space lined with spare clothing. Apparently it was well known that Arrancar had a tendency to destroy clothing in one way or another. By the second day she had found the wardrobe stocked with copies of the outfit she had picked out. She unzipped her borrowed shirt, folding it in half before tossing it onto the foot of the bed. She would clean it and return it later- it was just blood after all- even if the act was completely unnecessary. If anything she just hoped the act would serve as a show of gratitude or something.

Removing the tattered remains of her shirt had been interesting. The zipper on front got stuck, leaving her to either try to pull it over her head and mask remnants- the reason much of the clothes had zippers was because pulling clothes over jagged masks and the like was impossible- or she could just tear it the rest of the way off. She decided to shred the fabric. It became quite obvious from the way the fabric tore and frayed that this had been the fate of the bottom half of her shirt. Ulquiorra's handiwork for sure. He probably just gave her his shirt to keep her from complaining the entire way back about how he destroyed her clothes. This discovery was equally maddening and embarrassing. He didn't tell her he'd done it, but he had likely done it to check her wounds. She could not quite decide if the lying was made up by the concern he showed or not.

Once the scrap pile was tossed to the side near the door, she grabbed two new shirts, putting on one so she could make it to a bathroom to clean off the blood and sand still clinging to her- the running water amazed her, but that was another thing entirely. Plumbing wasn't the priority. With a new temporary shirt, she grabbed another pair of pants and new sash to replace her slightly charred ones- damn plant. Then off to the bathroom across the hall she went.

By the time the group arrived in Las Noches, she was waiting, leaning against a wall in a hall a distance away from the throne room, pristinely clean shirt in hand. His room had been as interesting as she thought; empty of signs someone might occasionally occupy the space and extremely tidy. Not to mention larger than the tiny space she had; of course she could just take over the entire floor if she had the mind to. Las Noches had a lot of empty rooms because it was so incredibly, needlessly large.

He had books too. She had no idea where the hell he got them, and she was more than a bit curious what they were about. Most appeared to be bound documents, very official looking, so she wondered if they had been information on the soul reapers they were apparently going to fight at some point. It would be something Ulquiorra would have. A few others were rather plain, human-made looking books. She didn't have enough time to snoop properly, or else she would have gone through them all. Another time perhaps.

Distant footsteps made her abandon her thoughts for a moment. Ulquiorra and Harribel led the pack, followed by the Adjuchas, the hallways barely accommodating the likes of the bird hollow. Behind them were Harribel's Fracción, not even visible with the hulking creatures in front of them. As soon as Ulquiorra was close enough, Aracelis held out his shirt, which he wordlessly took. His eyes did linger on her for a moment, although she couldn't read the look he sent her. Probably was her hair; taking a shower had caused her usually straight hair to become wavy, a few strands curling, the moisture wholly unnatural in a land without water- she wondered if it looked like this all the time when she had been a human. If anything, he took her hair as sign she only sort of listened to his orders to appear presentable.

In one motion he had the shirt on, continuing to walk forward uninterrupted. Aracelis stepped back towards the wall, assuming she was to go stand with the other Fracción.

"Hello again!"

The ear shattering chirp made Aracelis jerk her attention to the sound. She caught the smiley plant waving a vine at her as she passed. Aracelis made a face. Man, she did not envy Apacci, Mila-Rose, and Sung-Sun right now. They had to travel all the way back with that _thing_ giggling. She just had long stretches of silence or her babbling with the occasional response to things Ulquiorra decided were interesting. The idea that the plant would be a permanent fixture in Las Noches did not thrill her- of course, maybe that bizarre attitude would get Clematis killed soon enough.

She fell into line with the other Fracción, the three glancing at her suspiciously. Oh how they wished to ask questions. Too bad for them that going to a meeting with Aizen came before trivial inquiries into how the hell she managed to get Ulquiorra to carry her back _and_ hand over his shirt. Made her wonder just how he had acted before she got here, or when he hadn't been an Espada- if that had even happened. Who knows, he was probably strong enough to be an Espada from the start. And if he acted reasonably indifferent towards her, it'd be a fair bet to think he was completely cold to anyone else.

When they arrived to the throne room, the door were already open, showing off an expectant Aizen sat high above them in his throne, air superiority in place as he peered down at his collection of subordinates with an analytic gaze paired with a subtle smirk. Off to the side of the room waited a familiar pink haired Arrancar adjusting his glasses as he gave a quick once-over of the Adjuchas. Szayelaporro soon returned to ignoring the group, apparently not finding them very interesting. Or at least now, when he couldn't have a close look or prod at them with who knows what. Really unsettled Aracelis, not remembering the specifics of what happened when she first arrived in Las Noches.

Ulquiorra and Harribel stood nearest to the tall throne, the Adjuchas behind them, standing side by side for easy viewing. The four Fracción remained closer to the door, not really needing to be present because their opinion on much of anything didn't matter.

Once the group had entirely gathered in the room, Aizen greeted them by saying, "Welcome back, Harribel and Ulquiorra." His attention shifted to the line of Adjuchas as they attempted to quell their bout of fearful shivering. "I see you have been successful in bringing a number back alive, most," he paused, looking at the broken masked bird, as well as Ellzea with her broken chest plating and mask, "uninjured. Well done, my dear Espada."

Aracelis glanced at the ground, not wanting to see as both Harribel and Ulquiorra gave a slight bow to acknowledge Aizen's praise. She hated how one compliment from him had the two bowing down so obediently. She could put on act of being loyal, but she would always hate that a soul reaper was in charge of them. That Ulquiorra was forced to bow his head to some sleazy soul reaper.

"Szayelaporro," Aizen addressed, gaining the scientist Arrancar's attention immediately. "Would you escort our dear friends here to the lab so we can properly make them a part of our family?"

Aracelis really fought rolling her eyes at him calling them a family. It only made her resent him a bit more. Talking to them like they were his valued allies, his family, while they were in truth nothing more than tools, a means to an end. She was glad she didn't have to deal with him as much as the Espada. She couldn't stand listening that voice of his.

"Of course, Lord Aizen," Szayelaporro said with an exaggerated bow and exuberance. He narrowed his golden eyes as soon as he looked to the Adjuchas, silently daring them not to follow and find out what happens. They slowly moved towards him, reluctantly following after him as he began to walk swiftly towards another door leading to where Aracelis assumed she had woken up after the Hogyoku had been used on her.

The door closed behind them, the sound echoing in the empty room. All attention went back to Aizen as they waited for their _esteemed_ leader's next orders.

"Harribel, you and your Fracción are dismissed."

Harribel gave another slight bow, her Fracción following suit, before the four walked past Aracelis to leave. With only three people in it, the room's size suddenly seemed a great deal more intimidating.

"You are as well, Aracelis."

She stared at Aizen for a second, about to question why just she was, but thought better of it. Through great effort she managed to stiffly bow her head before turning around. She did send one final glance over her shoulder to Ulquiorra. His attention remained forward, seemingly ignoring her.

Once she was out of the room, she went a few halls down from the throne room to return to leaning against the wall, arms crossed over her chest. She would wait there until Ulquiorra came out. Then she would ask questions.

* * *

Ulquiorra heard her footsteps as she surprisingly left without a word of protest. Perhaps she finally understood her position, at least when it came to Lord Aizen. With her out of the room, it left only him and Aizen in absolute silence. Ulquiorra patiently waited to be addressed, although he had a fairly decent idea of what Aizen desired.

"Ulquiorra, I would like to see the abilities of the hollows you retrieved," Aizen said after a prolonged pause, getting to the point rather quickly considering his tendency to make small talk.

"As you wish, Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra was quick to respond with, hand reaching for his left eye already. He did not find this pleasant, but the ability proved rather useful when reporting back findings. Once he had the eye pulled out its socket, he crushed it, Solita Vista quickly relaying every moment of the mission for Aizen's convenience.

Regrettably that meant his experience with Clematis's ability, and every memory of Aracelis that he been replayed in that instant, was now Aizen's to use as he pleased. If Ulquiorra wasn't as loyal as he was, Aracelis would be a weakness ripe for use against him, as Clematis had attempted to do herself. He truly did despise his attachment to her. He could no longer deny that's what it was. When Clematis said that he would not allow anyone to kill Aracelis except him, he meant it. She was his kill. No one else's'. He would kill her for making him show such a weakness as concern for another.

"I see," Aizen stated, leaning back in his throne as he considered all of the information that he had just been provided with. "This Rudbornn will be quite useful." That was the only one he saw fit to mention, finding the ability the most useful amongst his newest recruits from the start. The practicality of Clematis's yet to be seen, only determinable in the way her power manifested after the Hogyoku.

"I am quite surprised to learn you had difficulties with your Fracción, Ulquiorra."

"Her interference was only a minor inconvenience, sir. I had been under the impression she was unable to reach her resurrección, however," Ulquiorra admitted, taking a very roundabout way to see if Aizen would tell him what he knew of Aracelis and the parasite occupying her. "She does not have control over her own abilities, it would seem."

"It is as you have concluded," was all Aizen said on the subject. Confirming what he already knew hardly helped, but Ulquiorra was not about to ask more information given how Aizen seemed content keeping him in the dark on the matter. "How disappointing she is, wouldn't you say, Ulquiorra? Such great power with an utter lack of control. I was so hoping you could train her to be useful to me. Perhaps handing her over to someone else's tutelage would be best, given your dislike for her."

"I did not mean to impart that impression, Lord Aizen," Ulquiorra stated, bowing his head slightly. "It is one of my duties to train her, and I will fulfil it to your expectations." Making him confirm that he wanted Aracelis as his Fracción just to show his understanding of the situation. This was one of the first times he had ever found irritation in Lord Aizen's methods. Of course Aracelis would be at the root of something as serious as wavering admiration and loyalty. And all because she somehow convinced him that he wanted her alive... He really did hate her for this.

"Very well, Ulquiorra." Aizen said, rising from his throne. "I trust you will not disappoint me."

"I will not, Lord Aizen."

"Then, I have other business to attend to." Aizen walked down the stairs leading to the throne, turning to follow after Szayelaporro and the Adjuchas now that he had concluded his _enlightening_ conversation with Ulquiorra. "You are free to leave, Ulquiorra."

"Thank you, sir," Ulquiorra said politely with a bow before turning on his heel. He could feel himself beginning to scowl, fighting to maintain a blank expression as he left the room behind.

As soon as Aracelis caught sight of him in the halls she went over to him, face mirroring his annoyed expression. He stopped when she stood in front of him, not saying anything.

"So what was…" Aracelis's eyebrows pushed together. His left eye, he kept it pinched closed. The way his eyelid held no tell-tale form of an eye behind it… "Ulquiorra, are… Are you missing an eye?" she questioned in a raised voice, upset on several accounts. One being she had no idea how it happened, the second being she could only see Aizen as being the cause, which made her want to stomp after him and yell even if that would get her killed quite quickly. "How did that happen?" she demanded when he didn't deny the fact the eye was gone. "Are you going to-"

"Quiet," he said coldly, voice cutting like a knife, silencing her immediately. "Your concern is unnecessary. It will regenerate momentarily." He stepped around her, not wanting to deal with her. He was thoroughly annoyed with the woman.

"But how did it happen?" She nearly shouted, trailing behind him half a step. When he suddenly stopped she almost crashed into him, Aracelis retreating a few steps with the one-eyed glare directed over his shoulder at her.

"I have the ability to show events I have witnessed to others by crushing an eye. Is this enough for you to cease your incessant shouting? Or will I be forced to put it into simpler terms for you, you foolish woman?" He paused for second before continuing to walk down the hall. "Your needless fretting over me is a pointless display that I am beginning to find irritating."

"I get it," she mumbled, barely resisting the urge to snarl it at him. "Sorry for being concerned when you show up _missing an eye_ ," she snottily replied, refusing to let him leave, pursuing him as he quickly waked through the halls. "Do you not understand that-" she paused, her features going from rage-filled to thoughtful, coming to a realization herself.

He didn't. He didn't understand why him being injured in any way, even if he would heal near instantly, upset her. She barely grasped it herself but that concept to Ulquiorra must be so foreign, so outlandish and irrational, that of course he would be trying to deny it. Caring. Concern. Empathy. They were weaknesses. Hollows didn't have need for them, so Ulquiorra believed he didn't either. Whatever was wrong with her caused her to have these feelings, made her appear human and weak. Unlike her former self that had been much more hollow-like. The one that Ulquiorra remembered… No wonder he was frustrated with her. Over time she had gotten worse about this, evolution taking her from a blood-thirsty, mindless killer to someone seeking a companion to fill a sudden void. After the Hogyoku it'd only progressed further, turning to… to infatuation of all things!

"Never mind," she stated rather plainly, losing all the anger in her tone, but also avoiding sounding sympathetic with her revelation. "You know what, I'm just going to go back to my room and take a nap before going back to yelling at servants like good little Fracción. See you later."

Without even waiting to see if he would respond to the one-eighty spin in attitude, she used sonido to get to the nearest exit. He wanted space, so he could have it. Just like when he got irritated with her antics in the past, she would leave him alone to calm down before going back to pestering him. They had admittedly spent a bunch of time together so it was understandable if they needed a break from each other's attitude issues, because they both certainly had them.

She'd stop pushing him to understand what the hell was wrong with her. He'd hopefully figure it out eventually- she'd hopefully figure it as well. She just knew if she kept bothering him like this he would end up snapping, pushing her away permanently. Or killing her. She certainly didn't want that to happen. She didn't want him to hate her. Not when she… Not when she felt so strongly for him.

That would be true despair to her.

* * *

 **A/N- Man that was a lot of skipping around scenes- had to get all those interactions going. I've also found out that writing for Aizen gives me anxiety. I just… He's so difficult for me to get the dialogue patterns of (and I hope I did all right here). I think it would be in character for him to find it entertaining watching Ulquiorra struggle with Aracelis and the parasite. He** _ **does**_ **like to screw with people after all, and the Arrancar were rather expendable in the end. But, yeah, hopefully that conversation was believable enough.**

 **There'll be a little break with the OC hollows that I've thrown in (not sure how anyone feels about that lot yet), but will be going back to the canon characters for the most part for a time. And getting some canon events going (which means I get to go re-watch episodes with a decent excuse, so yay!)**

 **As always, thank you so much for reading!**

 **Thank you to 030artastic and SecretlyADayDreamer for favoriting and/or following! And also thanks to everyone who had faved or followed already again. Means a lot to me!**

 **Lunar Loon- Glad you're excited~ I definitely have stuff planned! Thanks for reviewing!**

 **haipa-chan- Haha, a fungus! Let's just keep with the foreign-body infection theme, huh? He admitted he is attached to her- but also said he despises her for it. Oh, well, small improvements I suppose. I'm glad you liked Aracelis's swooning; she really is a teenager with her first crush at the moment. Although she sort of noticed she was acting like an idiot and needed to tone it down a bit. As for the parasite-removal predicament- his** _ **concern**_ **is making him be bit more careful how he goes about this because he doesn't want the parasite to kill her if he tells her about its presence because he doesn't know how much control or consciousness it truly has. Keep in mind he has no idea she interacts with it unknowingly. I'll be explaining more as things progress of course- don't want to give everything away! Thanks for reviewing again!**

 ***Just as another note, I'm going into the last bit of the semester, so finals may or may not interrupt the updates (as it already has; 30pg group project ate up my time last week). Lotta projects I've been ignoring need to get done in the next few weeks... But then I'll be free!***


	18. Chapter 18- Grudges and Confessions

Aracelis continued down the hall, arms crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. Honestly, how many times did someone need to send a hollow through a wall to create a rubble-dusted, bloody mess for her to deal with? Damn servants and their spats. They couldn't make the last few days of her job easy? At least after this they would be Rudbornn's problem. With his ability to create innumerable soldiers, apparently Aizen decided to place him in charge of security, and, by default, disciplinary activities. Had to free up Ulquiorra from distractions now that Aizen had decided to put his plan into action. At least Ulquiorra had been kind enough to share this information with her- she would have been absolutely pissed off if she hadn't been informed until the day they put Rudbornn to work.

And she and Ulquiorra were at least on speaking terms again after a forty-eight hour span of going out of their way to avoid each other. Of course, three days after returning to Las Noches, she found herself bored out of her damn mind. So bored, in fact, that she cleaned the shirt she had stolen from him. She went and returned it once it was dry. Didn't get a word out him- he just took the shirt and walked away. The next day, however, he found her, dragged her outside, and drilled her about sword-play for a grueling five hours without pause- not exaggerating either, he intended on exhausting so she behaved the next two days while he was in and out of meetings with Aizen and the rest of the Espada. Every so often he would track her down to tell her something or another, like Rudbornn's new position, and the planning of a trip to the human world- _not_ involving her.

She was miffed about that, because she actually _knew_ about the human world. More than any of the other hollows would anyway. He told her it's because she wouldn't be able to fight off the soul reapers there. Because, you know, it's not like she hadn't killed dozens of the hollow-hunters before. _No_ , she didn't have _any_ experience fighting soul reapers. It wasn't like there would be captain level soul reapers screwing around in the rather small, insignificant-appearing town that happened to their target. Seriously, there was no-

She crashed into something reminiscent of a warm moving wall, stumbling back a few steps before ripping her attention from the ground to the idiot that had knocked into her. Her eyes went wide, her mouth snapping closed, biting back the choice words she had. His icy, pale blue eyes glared down at her, jaw clenched with just barely bridled rage. Just her luck. This… Oh, this certainly wouldn't end well.

"What the hell are you doing?" Grimmjow said irritably at her, reaching for her already. She stepped back just in time to miss his hand clutching onto her shoulder- too bad the time to escape had already passed. He lifted his foot to take another step forward, stopping midway to return his foot the ground as he stared at her. "Wait, you're that conceited bastard's Fracción, aren't you?" When she didn't answer he growled out, "You too stupid to answer?"

"If…" She looked to the ground, letting her features slip into panic for second. If he recognized her there would be hell to pay. "If the bastard you are referring to is Ulquiorra, then yes," she muttered, attempting to sound timid. Maybe if she acted different he wouldn't recognize her. She failed, sounding sarcastic, if not slightly annoyed because only she was allowed to call Ulquiorra names. "I apologize for running into you," she added, failing to get even a hint of sincerity into her words. She quickly attempted to walk around him and away before the conversation became even less civil.

"You think you can just walk away?" he growled, a hand clamping onto her shoulder before forcibly spinning her around.

Without thinking she slapped his hand away, snarling at him in anger with a deadly –but ineffective- glare in place as she stared up at him. She hated that he was taller than her. More difficult to be intimidating when someone towered over you and your eye level-view happened to be a bare chest. "Don't touch me," she hissed back at him. Might as well considering he seemed set on conflict.

"You think you're tough, huh? I'll sh…" Grimmjow suddenly trailed off, face slipping from pure anger to studying, his brows pushed together tightly. "Wait a second," he said, rage about to spill over again. "That face!"

Aracelis swallowed nervously.

"You're that bitch!" he roared, pointing at her accusingly as he recognized her infuriating face from the past.

This was it. She was dead.

* * *

 _Grimmjow tore into another hollow, fangs shearing through flesh with ease. From every direction rang the cries of the dying and injured, the mass of Menos and mindless lesser hollows being utterly destroyed by his subjects and himself. He leapt, claws shredding apart another hollow in one motion. They had arrived suddenly from an opening in the sand leading to the forest below, and their leader…_

 _His growl turned into an enraged roar as he stood atop the body of Menos spewing forth blood as it died. Their leader stood nonchalantly off to the side, watching with a yawn as her group slowly dwindled to nothing. She had to be a Vasto Lorde, but even then, she appeared almost human, only a partial mask over the left side of her face giving her hollow nature away. And her spiritual pressure, it seemed too weak to be a Vasto Lorde. But, honestly, these meant next to nothing to the panther. He cared about one thing: eating the woman foolish enough to attack the king._

 _Di Roy, being the idiot he was, turned his attention to the woman, grinning obliviously at the danger with his battle high clouding judgement. As he charged forward, the woman stared with a blank expression for a second before looking back to Grimmjow and Shawlong as they defeated the last of the hollows, mouths bloodied after devouring them. Di Roy went to snap his gleaming, teeth-lined jaw to cut the woman in half. His body flew through the air, summersaulting as he continued rolling through the sand as momentum took him. Grimmjow watched as the woman lowered her hand, having presumably just backhanded Di Roy out of the way. Served the idiot right anyway; this was Grimmjow's meal for sure._

" _Wow, that one was dumb," she called out, clearly seeking attention. "Hey!" She shouted while waving at them, the rest of Grimmjow's battalion facing her with a snarl. "Are the rest of you smarter than that one, or am I just going to be disappointed?"_

" _What the hell do you want?" Grimmjow snapped, tail whipping as he stalked a bit closer to his quarry. This woman, the second she opened her mouth, she made him crazed with rage. Acting with such arrogance when they outnumbered her- a single woman with apparently below-average strength. It pissed him off._

 _She shrugged. "Just saying hello, I suppose." She paused, looking over the group of agitated Adjuchas, ignoring Grimmjow as he approached ever closer. "Nice little group you got going, cat. Unless they're as dumb as that other one. Are you that dumb, cat?" She leaned forward, giving a toothy smile. "Will you attack, I wonder? I mean, no one could blame you if you ran scared. I am quite a scary after all." After tilting her head to the side, she pouted. "No response, cat? It's no fun if you ignore me."_

" _I'm going to tear your throat out!" Grimmjow hissed as he launched himself at the woman, claws raised._

 _His claws sailed through the air without resistance. He landed on the ground, eyes scanning the area suspiciously. She was fast. So much so he didn't see when or where she had moved._

" _Did you lose me, cat?"_

" _Name's Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, you bitch," he snarled when his eyes locked onto the woman who now stood suspended in the air above him. He sprung up to lash with sharpened claws. A kick to the face sent him back into the ground, his new home a crater in displaced sand._

" _Grimm-what? Couldn't understand your screeching. Ah, well, doesn't matter anyway cat," she said, a hand on her hip while she waved the other dismissively. "_ _ **So**_ _boring. He is so much more interesting," she muttered to herself after glancing at the group again. "Definitely smarter than you bunch all put together. Guess I'll stick to bothering him."_

 _A red glow erupted as Grimmjow fired off a cero while she rambled. It hit her head-on, the glow engulfing her. Just as he began to cackle, the energy fizzled away to reveal the woman looking down on him, unscathed and unfazed._

" _Was that a cero, cat? That was pathetic. Seriously," she mocked, slowly raising her arm in front of her, holding her hand open. A wicked smile appeared on her face as a blue charge gathered in her palm. "Would you like to see a real one?"_

 _Grimmjow and his subjects scattered as they all tried to avoid the explosion as it hit the ground with enough force to form a giant gouge in the sand, a cloud of thick dust rising to clog the air._

" _See, that was neat, huh, cat?" Her voice asked, the sand still in the process of clearing._

 _He answered with a snarl, muscles tensing in preparation of launching himself at the infuriating woman again._

" _Oh, so you're going to keep fighting are you? That's just sad. You have no hopes of winning, so just run away like a good Adjucha," she said, shooing him away with her hand. "I don't really feel like fighting you because, well, you're not really worth the effort to be honest." She disappeared, reappearing in front of him. With a single flick of her fingers she sent him staggering back a few steps. "Bye now, cat."_

 _And with that she was gone. A second later Grimmjow let out a roar, tail snapping back and forth with enough speed to disturb the sand below him._

" _I'm going to kill you!" The panther howled, it a vow. He would sink his fangs and claws into that woman if he_ _ **ever**_ _came across her again. No one disrespected him like this. He would_ _ **destroy**_ _her._

* * *

"The one that insulted me and then fucking ran away!" He snarled through clenched teeth. His hand shook with rage as he kept pointing at her face.

"I…" Aracelis trailed off. It's not like a few words would defuse this disaster. The only thing she could think to do was slowly back away like one would do with a rabid animal.

"You still think you're all high and mighty? You think you can take me on?" He closed the gap between them, not allowing her to flee so easily. "I've got news for you. I'm a lot stronger than you now. Oh, I'm going to enjoy killing you. I think I'll-"

"Just shut up, cat. I hardly have time for your theatrics." She wasn't going to spend her last moments listening to him gloat. And, well, might as well go out insulting an Espada instead of visibly quivering in fear.

"I'm going to tear your throat out!" he shouted, snapping into a blind rage.

 _Idiot. Should have killed him back then like I wanted._ Instinct added, not even sounding mad. Just exhausted. _See what not listening to me gets you?_

His spiritual pressure spiked, the sudden change making Aracelis's knees nearly give out. As a punch came for her head, she leaned away, watching with wide eyes as his fist brushed past her cheek. She scrambled to step backwards before an uppercut smashed apart her jaw.

"You're not as fast as Ulquiorra," she taunted despite that being the absolute _last_ thing she needed to be doing. Couldn't help herself seeing as it was true. When Ulquiorra actually wanted to hit her she barely saw it coming, let alone had time to dodge. Maybe she could get out of this alive because of his demanding training sessions.

"Speed doesn't matter if you're stronger!" Grimmjow jabbed at her again, forcing her to take another step back. His icy eyes gleamed as he raised a hand, crazed smile lit up by a red glow. " _This_ is a cero!"

Aracelis raised her hand, a ring of energy crackling as the red cero fired for her. In the last second she sent out a round of bala, disrupting the blast of energy, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop the Espada's raw power at such a close range. Her feet left the ground, body crashing through several walls before one finally stopped her momentum as she rolled into it with a _smack_.

She picked herself off the ground, body aching, lip split, a few scratches leaking out blood. One direct blow from a cero like that and she would be dead or very crispy. Rubble cascaded off of her as she stood on shaky legs, head throbbing. Being flung through stone walls hurt a bit more than she anticipated. She almost felt sorry for the servants she killed by tossing into walls. Eh, not really. They deserved it. She didn't.

Time to make a desperate plea, then. Instead of drawing in energy like she had been, she shifted to spiking her spiritual pressure as much as possible. Maybe, just maybe, he would be generous enough to come save her. It was doubtful, considering Ulquiorra outright told her he would not save her from her own stupidity. That stipulation probably applied to past mistakes, like not killing Grimmjow when she had the chance. Just had to be arrogant and say he wasn't worth her time. It was just her luck that the little Adjucha would end up being a vindictive Espada.

Footsteps made her jerk her head up. Grimmjow stepped over a broken part of a wall a distance away, stalking over to her with hands in his pockets. The smile across his face was anything but friendly, the expression one twitch away from complete madness. She frantically searched around, unsure where she ended up after her trip through the walls. Some empty room, door to the hall next to the hole. Heading back towards Grimmjow certainly wasn't the solution. Voluntarily through the wall then.

She shot off another bala, the wall behind her crumbling apart in a rain of stone shards. Aracelis nearly cried at the glorious sight, never so happy to see a dimly lit hall as she was now. Just as a precaution she lunged for her new exit with sonido with every intention of running away.

A fist met the side of her face, snapping her head to the side painfully before she was slammed back to the floor. Spitting out blood, she glared up at Grimmjow as he cackled away in sheer enjoyment. Hadn't been enough distance to get ahead of him.

"Not that strong, are you? You're down right pathetic," he mocked, leisurely walking towards her. "Maybe if you start begging I'll kill you quickly instead of kicking your sorry ass around until you fall apart."

"Screw you, cat," she snapped, forcing herself back to her feet. His expression of unbridled rage made her stifle a laugh. Did he really expect her to beg?

"Oh, you're dead," he laughed quietly, brushing back his light blue hair. In that moment he looked almost gleeful at that being her answer. "You're so dead!" he barked.

He launched himself at her again, snarling as he aimed a punch for her head. She stepped to the side, reading the attack know that she could see it coming. Just had to keep an eye on him, because then her speed out did his. As he turned to attack his chin was blasted with a bala. Aracelis jumped back as he kept coming at her, essentially ignoring her bala like it had been less irritating than a bug-bite.

As she dodged his rather lazy attempts to attack her- he was playing with her now- she raised her hand. Once he caught sight of the cero glow he lunged at her to grab her hand and likely snap it off to put an end to her 'silly' attempts at injuring him. She jumped. Her eyes narrowed as he merely followed the movement. She fought a smile. He didn't expect her as being capable of firing off ceros from the air.

Completely upside down and directly above him, she fired off a blue cero. He held up an arm to block. Not that she thought she could hurt him with it.

"What the hell?" he shouted as the floor crumbled beneath him to nearly drown out his surprised cry.

Aracelis didn't wait around. At most he would fall two floors before rocketing back up there to kill her. As soon as her feet reconnected with the ground she ran down the long hall straight for a wall. She finally had enough time to get her bearings in the white maze. While her feet carried her down the stone tiles she readied a cero. In a blast of blinding light, the wall crumbled away to reveal the fake blue sky of the outside. Immediately she jumped through her new exit point.

She wasn't cut out for dealing with an enraged Espada. At least not when she couldn't use her resurrección. If she could do that then she could out speed the cat for sure. Maybe even fight him off until he used his. Now, if she just had the command…

 _This is your own damn fault._ Instinct cut in on cue. _I'm not going to intervene. I'm done with your nonsense. Get yourself killed for all I care._

Well, no resurrección then. New plan. Harribel was a distance away. No way the sixth would attack the third; even he couldn't be that stupid, right? If she managed to get over there, then Harribel would help her. She _had_ been worried for her safety before. Hopefully she would kind enough to help her now. Certainly had a better chance with Harribel than her own 'master.'

Ulquiorra was a lost cause not even worth considering at this point. He hadn't moved since the scuffle started, keen on ignoring her. He _had_ told her he wouldn't help… She just really hoped he had been lying to keep face.

Grimmjow appeared in front of her, sending her into a skidding halt. She didn't stop soon enough. He used sonido to close the gap, foot connecting with her stomach as he kicked her full-force into the ground below. She groaned in misery, several ribs momentary broken, thankfully none stabbing into organs. Her body couldn't afford organ damage when she surely would be receiving several more broken bones or severed limbs.

He landed in the sand, a small dust cloud rising with the impact. As he menacingly walked towards her with eyes narrowed in enjoyment, she picked herself off the ground again. Her regeneration mended the bones, but who knows for long she would have that luxury.

"That it?" His grin faded, like he was losing interest. Mercy certainly wasn't how this would end, either. If Aracelis understood one thing, it was that being boring equaled no point in keeping alive. "That's all you can do?" he snapped angrily. "Can't you use your resurrección or something? Or are you just trying to piss me off by not fighting at full strength?"

She refused to answer, keeping her expression blank as she stared defiantly at him. Her lack response made his glare intensify.

"Can't believe I got beat up by someone so pathetic," he shouted, jaw tense, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles went white.

 _Neither can I,_ instinct agreed, making Aracelis frown. She didn't need her damn brain agreeing with the enemy calling her weak. _Can't deny the truth, weakling. Just die, seriously. I'm so fed up with you._

Grimmjow closed the short distance between them once more, ready to punch her face in. She dodged to the side only to have him come at with his other fist. His knuckles brushed by her cheek in a show that he meant business, that he would not be screwing around anymore. Another wave of spiritual pressure radiating off of the furious Espada drove his point home.

Aracelis knew that she couldn't just keep avoiding attacks. Defense for a hollow without a substantial hierro was not a sound strategy. As he swung at her again she reached to her side in one last ditch effort to find something effective against him. She merely managed to stop his fist with the blade, a thin scratch the only damage to his hand. She still hadn't figured out the art of slicing through hierro; a tiny cut, sadly, was already more damage than she managed to inflict on Ulquiorra while training with him. Grimmjow shoved against her sword. Even after gripping her sword's hilt with both hands, her arms shook and trembled like leaves in hurricane at his strength. Soon her heels dug into the ground, and she found herself being pushed back.

He didn't wait for her arms to give out. Instead, he opened his hand on the blade, fingers wrapping around it like it didn't even have a sharpened edge. He snatched it away without even having to wrestle her for it with how tired her arms were from holding him back. While he tossed it over his shoulder she sent a bala smashing into his face. The only damage was a bit of singed hair that reeked of sulfur. She successfully pissed him off more.

While he stood with his head still turned to the side, livid sneer intensifying, she ran before jumping into the air. A second later another blaring explosion rang out. She barely had time to swerve to the side. As the mass of red energy passed her an idea struck her though. Instead of her rather ineffective flaring of her spiritual pressure, she returned to drawing in radiant energy. Ulquiorra mentioned something about her being able to use radiant energy to increase her own capabilities briefly, it especially dependent on who she was siphoning it from. Something about that being what she had done in her resurrección, that it would likely work to a lesser degree outside of it, but work nonetheless. He'd be _so_ pleased to learn she had actually been paying attention to his lecturing.

That brought her back to her cat problem. An Espada should provide a decent boost, right? Maybe one that could get her to Harribel with her limbs still intact? Grimmjow continued to blast off a few more ceros, probably enjoying seeing her run for her life. He either didn't notice the sudden disappearance of her spiritual pressure, or didn't care because he believed she had no more tricks to save herself with. Gave her plenty of energy to work with, that's for sure.

After another cero passed by she put all concentration into using sonido. Her surroundings blurred further as she sped up, an exhilarated smile appearing on her face with all the possibilities her ability could offer. Just a little bit of cero-fire had allowed her a moderate speed increase to outrun a pissed Espada. Her resurrección must have been spectacular with all of the energy she had siphoned from Ulquiorra during that previous battle. Suddenly training didn't seem as much as of a chore now that she was interested. Didn't feel as weak either. Maybe Ulquiorra would appreciate-

 _You think that this is enough to make you useful!? That figuring out something so basic would please him?_ The irritating voice cut in with absolute fury, distracting her to the point she nearly stumbled. _You are so damn annoying! Why is having his approval so damn important to you? It's intolerable!_ Aracelis almost forgot to keep running as she instead reached to cover her ears, the internal shouting horrendously loud. _Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra. Ulquiorra. That's all I ever hear from you! Just shut up already!_

She tried her best to ignore the sudden rage-filled seething of her instinct, focusing on locating Grimmjow. With that distraction she had lost some of the distance between them. Any more and the cat would catch her. She just had to keep running. A few more moments and she would be to Harribel. Then this would be over.

 _You're right, I'll just end this now. Save myself from more of your whining._

Everything went black. Aracelis felt her panic rise, her only thought being 'not again.' No matter how many times she blinked, her vision did not return. Nothing. Not even light. She couldn't see _anything._ She tried to keep moving blindly forward, but she knew. That fraction of a second when she hesitated after losing sight, it was more than enough time. Now she was just waiting for that death-blow to come because Grimmjow wouldn't be sparing her.

Cackling to her left made her whip around, holding her hand up to desperately fire a cero. A fist struck the right side of her face, jaw dislocating with a sickening pop. His heel caught her side to make her body smash in to the sand below.

As the sand cascaded into the crater surrounding her, she could make out the blurred form of her hand resting in the white grains near her face. Twitching her fingers was all she could manage as her body reeled from the powerful attack. Surprisingly she remained intact, bones whole, only her shoulder dislocated from slamming into the ground and jaw offset painfully, all teeth still present. Much of the damage came in the form of violently purple bruising. Her breathes were unsteady, the air just now returning to her lungs after the impact with the ground. It took a lot to keep from groaning in pain, Aracelis not wanting to give the laughing madman the pleasure. She may as well die with dignity, even if internally she was terrified to the point she nearly shook.

When she heard Grimmjow land a few feet away, once more walking towards her, perhaps thinking she could longer move, she shakily raised an arm. One last act of defiance. From her awkward prone position and still-blurred vision she fired off a cero with the remaining energy she had stolen from him.

Just as he went to slide down the crater the cero went off. The bright glare briefly blinded her, but the results of her attack made her grin as she dropped her head to the sand. He was still standing of course, yet the tattered and singed edges of his sleeves, the burns across his arms, and the surprised look made the attack worth it. At least she'd caused some damage before what would be inevitable death at this point.

In a flash he was in front of her, kicking her back into the air before he began attacking with a flurry of punches.

* * *

Ulquiorra flipped the page of the book even though he had no recollection of what had been on it. No, he was far too focused on his Fracción to actually pay attention to static print on a piece of white paper. She had crossed paths with Grimmjow, the meeting soon turning into a destructive fight that was surely destroying Las Noches. The sixth had already tossed her through several walls. That was when she caught his attention, flaring her spiritual pressure perhaps as a plea to him. She quickly concluded he wasn't going to rush to save her, destroying several walls and floors on her way outside.

From what he could tell, she was trying to run away. A rather smart move on her part. Whatever she had done had Grimmjow enraged and bloodthirsty- in other words about as intelligent as a lesser hollow on the hunt. She stood no chance against him. Even in her resurrección he doubted she could take Grimmjow on; she was more a match for Aaroniero, or perhaps Szayelaporro. Running away was her best option. She even appeared to be heading towards Harribel should Grimmjow decide to continue to pursue her.

The book's binding nearly snapped, papers crunching as they bent, clutched too tightly as he sensed Aracelis being sent to the ground. He shouldn't be bothered to such a degree. This was her fault; he told her not to anger any of the other Espada. He warned her that he would not come to her rescue. Yet here he was, so distracted that he couldn't even pay attention to information regarding Karakura from Lord Aizen. She truly drove him insane, breaking down the control he had over himself like it never existed.

Just as he tried to return his attention back to the book, Aracelis shot off a bala directly into Grimmjow. Immediately she went to run only for Grimmjow to begin firing ceros after her. While she could dodge most of the attacks thrown at her, Ulquiorra knew that Grimmjow could easily kill her in one hit given the opportunity. Right now he was playing with her, chasing her around, making her believe she had a chance at getting away. And this, this made Ulquiorra want to go beat the sixth into the ground. It was one thing to be fighting with her, another to toy with her and bring her pain. Not that he should care about her being brought to despair, nor her being killed, but, unfathomably, he did and he could not deny it. He could hate her all he wanted, it apparently didn't change the fact he preferred her alive.

Her spiritual pressure disappeared, causing Ulquiorra's entire body to tense. As soon as he sensed the distortion of energy he tried to relax, knowing that she had just gone to drawing energy in, not that she was dead. With all of the energy around her she was able to speed up significantly. She had apparently been listening to him when he tried to explain some ways to apply her odd ability in battles.

Now that she had an even greater speed advantage, she would be fine. She would survive her little spat with the sixth all on her own. He had no need to _worry_ , and no reason to be further distracted by her. He could return to-

Never before had he thrown something to side so quickly. Without a second thought he leapt out a window before using sonido. She had suddenly stopped. Something was wrong. The first image that came to his mind was when she had paused while fighting against him, sword sinking into the flesh of her arm and through her chest as blood ran down her side. Grimmjow had already caught up to her and sent her into the ground where she stayed, unmoving.

As was her stubborn nature, she gave what would be a final act of defiance: a particularly violent cero firing with such brightness Ulquiorra saw it from a distance away. It didn't distract Grimmjow for long, the sixth returning to beating her senseless instead of killing her quickly.

Over the mere seconds it took him to reach the battlefield, Grimmjow had forced her back to the ground in a sizable crater, now one of many covering the immediate area. In the center of the crater she sat helplessly, one arm limp at her side, a leg with a bone visibly sticking out, and bruises over much of her body. She did not have time to heal every injury, or perhaps couldn't, her unreliable ability once more failing her when she needed it most. Aracelis watched with wide eyes as Grimmjow prepared a cero to end her existence.

The red cero was forcibly redirected skyward, Ulquiorra now standing in front of Aracelis as he returned his hand to his side. Grimmjow glared down at him. Momentarily the sixth remained silent, his face twisted into a snarl, his eye twitching with anger. Ulquiorra took the moment to glance over his shoulder. Aracelis's mouth had fallen open- crookedly, showing her jaw was out of place- and her eyes… Underneath the yet-to-dissipate fear and shock, was joy. The corners of her mouth fought back a delirious smile even. After ignoring her as she was beaten and after allowing her to nearly be killed, she still found him protecting her as something joyous. Her misguided faith in him made him want to yell at her because he should have been there to help her immediately instead of ignoring her to prove he did not feel anything towards her when he clearly did. He nearly got her _killed_ and she was foolishly smiling like she was oblivious to that fact.

"What the hell do you want?" Grimmjow growled, bringing attention back to him as he stood at the top of the crater, eyes narrowed. "Here to protect your pathetic woman?"

Ulquiorra shifted his gaze from the angered sixth to the tower a few yards away, it directly behind them. "Had I not intervened, you would have needlessly destroyed one of Lord Aizen's throne rooms," he stated, it so convenient the battle had stopped right in front of the perfect excuse. Any other building and he would have just said Grimmjow was making too much of mess with his rampage after someone he should have been able to kill easily.

Grimmjow nearly shouted back before looking at the building, his miniscule brain perhaps comprehending the situation. While Aizen tolerated an amount of destruction from his Espada, destroying half a building before ruining a throne room- Aizen's personal domain- would be punishable. He shoved his hands into his pockets, shifting his glare back downward.

"Then are you going to let me kill her?" Grimmjow asked flatly, not ready to let his revenge go unfulfilled. "If this was only about the building, then leave her with me so I can finish her off."

"I see no purpose in allowing you to kill my Fracción," he said plainly. Grimmjow didn't leave, instead staring Ulquiorra down defiantly, not accepting that as an answer. "I also fail to see why you are so intent on killing her. Surely the minor injuries she inflicted upon you aren't the cause. Did she wound your pride with her words perhaps?"

Ulquiorra heard Aracelis snort as she tried to hold back a laugh. He could imagine that she couldn't hold back grinning. Grimmjow's reaction of grinding his teeth may have proved that Aracelis was openly mocking him behind the safety of Ulquiorra's back.

"Shut the hell up!" Grimmjow snapped finally. "I'll kill you, that's a promise," he said, pointing to Aracelis. "And you," he growled as he turned attention to Ulquiorra, "you've gone soft, Ulquiorra. Protecting some woman." With that, Grimmjow turned on his heel to stalk away, grumbling profanities under his breath the entire way.

As soon as Grimmjow was out of earshot and sight, Ulquiorra turned around to deal with his trouble-bound Fracción. By then her leg had mended outwardly, that being the area of focus, while everything else had just begun to show signs of regeneration. With only one useable arm and hand, she unsuccessfully tried to force her jaw back into place, likely so she could speak properly. He knelt in front of her, pushing her hand to the side while taking in the incredulous look she gave him. Once he had his hands on either side of her face he snapped her jaw back, the popping sound accompanied by her groaning.

"Ouch," she mumbled a second later, smiling at him despite apparently being in pain.

Her face was caked in blood and grit, her dark skin made pale by the white dust stuck to her. He rubbed some of it away subconsciously, then noticing that underneath was a fair amount of bruising that had yet to heal. Briefly he considered going after Grimmjow now that he saw sixth had made an effort to hit mainly her face. He dropped his hands back to his side, standing back up to look around for something to distract him for a few moments as her body fixed itself.

"Where is your sword?" He noticed she had lost it again. He was amazed she managed to keep track of it before coming to Las Noches with how often she left it lying about unattended.

Aracelis waved a hand off to the side. "In that direction, I believe," she said as she then rubbed her cheek, cleaning off some of the grim. "Damn cat tossed it somewhere after taking it."

He narrowed his eyes as he scanned over the area she directed him to. Soon he picked out a silvery gleam in the white sand. Rather calmly he walked the short distance, plucking the blade out of the sand, noticing a small rust-colored stain. She had managed to cut through Grimmjow's hierro. A small wound, but an improvement compared to when she had last trained with him. He had also noticed that Grimmjow had been burned by that last cero. Perhaps she was not a lost cause when it came to fighting. She just needed to learn to pick her battles better.

As he walked back to her, she attempted to stand. After stumbling for her balance and swaying on tired legs, she steadied herself. Then she returned to wiping her arm across her face, effectively smearing around the blood and dirt. Soon she gave up on cleaning her face with a pout, turning her attention to the rest of her body. Unlike the last time, her clothes were mainly intact with only a few tears, giving her no reason to be embarrassedly shout at him until he gave into her demands for something else to wear.

"Thank you," she said quietly as he handed her sword back to her, her eyes focused on the ground. "I mean, for saving me. And the sword too, but mainly saving me. I…" Aracelis shifted her weight as she went to brush her hair out of her face. "I really didn't think you'd come, and I'm so glad you did, but…" she finally met his gaze despite how oddly timid she sounded. "But why did you? I thought you said you wouldn't rescue me from my own stupidity. While I seriously tried to avoid fighting him, this entire thing was still my fault really." She looked off to the side, grumpily adding, "And you were ignoring me at first, so why show up at all?"

At least she recognized he had been, as she would say, a jerk, in that regard. She was still much too forgiving though. As to why he _did_ rescue her, there was only one reason he was absolutely sure of among all of the different possibilities he had been trying to mentally sort through in the last week since returning to Las Noches.

"I am the only one allowed to kill you."

"Wha…" She began, an eyebrow raised. That confusion quickly turned into anger as she took a step closer to him, standing on her toes with her heels raised to kill the slight height advantage he held over her. "What _the hell_ is that supposed to mean!?"

"Your life belongs to me. Consider it an order to not be killed by anyone else."

Her face went blank as she wordlessly stared him down while she thought. Hilariously her expression mirrored one he often gave her. "Is… Is this just some convoluted way of saying that you'll protect me? Because you don't really want to kill me. So you're just trying to appear to _not_ care when you clearly do. That's what this is." She wasn't even asking questions, just making blunt statements that were surprisingly accurate.

"Ulquiorra," she whined, taking a step back, no longer confrontational. "Why do you do this? I'm not going to go spouting off to the world that you care about something. I get that that would ruin you're carefully-crafted, emotionless machine persona and probably put a target on me- I'm not a complete idiot- but seriously, you don't have to act like this when we're alone together. I trust you and…" She reached out, catching the fabric of his sleeve, her eyes never leaving his. "You can trust me."

And that was it. That was all she said before releasing her hold and turning around, beginning the walk back to presumably her room. This is what the problem was. She somehow managed to be so carefree when admitting such _human_ traits such as trust in another. Trust certainly didn't exist in hollows, not when it could be so easily abused and lead to death. It was a vulnerability. And what had happened the last time she trusted him? He nearly killed her, and then left her for dead to be devoured by other hollows. Yet here she was, speaking like trust meant something significant to her even after it failed her so severely again and again. Incomprehensible. That's what she was to him.

He trailed after her by a few steps, unknowingly glaring at her back. After a few moments she glanced over shoulder before stopping. She tilted her head to the side as she studied him. Once he walked past her, trying very hard to ignore her, she began walking at his side, her eyes never leaving him.

"Do you have something to say?" she asked, the silence too uncomfortable for her. Or she just lost interest in waiting for him to speak first. "You seem to be thinking awfully hard about something."

"Why did you suddenly stop while attempting to outrun Grimmjow earlier?" Perhaps she just wanted to hear her own voice, so he would supply her with a subject he found perplexing.

"That's not what you were thinking about, was it?" She called him out, rolling her eyes. "But fine. I just…" she trailed off, suddenly unsure of how to explain. "It's just for a second I couldn't see. Everything went black, but I was still conscious. I don't really know what happened, I guess."

"I see," he said, mainly to himself. Had the parasite caused this to happen? If that were true it was trying to kill her. How odd, considering it had been so desperate to keep her alive on that mission. He didn't understand the motives of the parasite, if it were intelligent enough to have a defined motive. Before she caught his pensive look and badgered him about it, he asked, "What did you do to anger the sixth to such a degree?" She _had_ riled Grimmjow up in a matter of moments.

She jumped at the chance to tell her story, quickly beginning so he couldn't change his mind about hearing it. "What happened was back when he was an Adjucha, I, well, did what I did with you sort of. I showed up with a bunch of other hollows, watched as the cat and his group killed them. He tried to pick a fight with me, which was so typical and boring that I decided he wasn't what I was looking for in a companion. At this point I already had found you as well, so he stood no chance anyway. You are just so perfect after all." After laughing a few times she continued. "I was feeling nice that day so I left him alive after smacking him around a bit in front of his lackeys, mocking him the entire time." She shrugged, saying, "Must have 'wounded his pride with my words.'" With a sigh she finished with, "I ran into him in the hall earlier, and he unfortunately recognized me. Apparently he held quite the grudge."

"You should have killed him back then."

"So I've been told," she muttered to herself, Ulquiorra not quite understanding the comment. "Who knew the stupid cat would end up being high ranked in a soul reaper's regime? I didn't exactly worry about stuff like that because I thought it was impossible."

He nearly wanted to sigh at her story because it was so like her. She had been bored so she went to antagonize others for her own enjoyment. Why she settled on particularly him, he would never understand. He just knew he allowed it because she provided him with a certain amount of entertainment. Aracelis, despite getting on his nerves occasionally, still interested him with all her contradictions and bizarre mix of human and hollow traits. That hadn't changed after all the time they were apart. Even now as he questioned his excessive attachment to her, he enjoyed being around her when she wasn't being a complete emotional wreck of a hollow.

Which was why he so desperately wanted to hate her. He shouldn't be feeling anything, let alone happiness at another's mere presence. But even hate, that was something he should not feel. Indifference. Indifference was the height of control. If he cared for nothing then nothing could affect him. She ruined that ideal. She always had.

At this point, they reached the tower designated to Ulquiorra, both making their way inside. After walking up a few flights of stairs, Aracelis once more took the lead as she eagerly raced upwards. He followed her, caught up in his thoughts, not paying much attention. As soon as they both stood on the floor she had claimed for herself she paused in front of a door, him nearly walking into her like she so often did to him.

"Ulquiorra?" Her voice snapped him out of his reverie. "Are you coming to shower with me?" As soon as the words left her mouth, her face went red, stuttering as she took in just what exactly she asked. She stood mortified as he blankly stared at her.

Had he not caught himself he would have blurted out yes. He didn't… He didn't know what to think about that fact. He did find her appealing, he supposed. She wasn't typically feminine, her shoulders rather broad, her body athletic and somewhat muscular, but she had nice bone structure overall, especially her hips and collar bones. Her chest bordered on average to below average, but well-formed. The soft features of her face were near hidden by the hardened glare of her pale eyes that nearly matched the oceanic tone of her hair. He always found a strange fascination with her full lips, likely because he often stared at them as she spoke, so used to watching them form words. The way she blushed in embarrassment was also quite… adorable? Yes, that is the word to describe her face right now. All right, he admittedly found her attractive.

She made him consider such odd things. Attractiveness? That hardly held any importance to a hollow. Sure, some of the other Arrancar had found pleasure in sex after gaining a more human-like form. He certainly had no reason to sleep with her though, seeing as it was mainly a power play and he most certainly already had power over her. Doing that solely for the pleasure of it-

"Ulquiorra, you staring is not making the situation better!" she squeaked out, avoiding his eyes. "J-just forget I said that. Didn't mean for it to come out like that. Just looked at the bathroom door and spouted it off. An accident, okay?" Aracelis rambled as she shifted nervously under his continued stare.

"Do you find me attractive?" He felt strangely warm, the collar of his shirt suddenly feeling too tight as well. Such a curious feeling.

Her wide eyes snapped back to his face for a few seconds, a twitch of smile appearing on her face. She reverted her gaze to the ground, however, laughing awkwardly as she rocked back on her heels.

"Answer, Aracelis."

"W-why should I? You never answer my questions." Her eyes flickered to his face again, frowning. "And besides, my reaction should be enough to guess what my answer is. You just want to hear me say it for your own satisfaction."

True. She wouldn't be so flustered if she didn't find him attractive; he had already guessed that she had been infatuated with him with all the attention she gave him. He just wanted her to admit it so she couldn't pretend like she didn't in a clear case of denial. While observable actions were concrete, she seemingly valued words just as much, even if lies were so easy to create. Having her admit it would force her to confront her own infatuation so she didn't act like a hormonal teenage girl, stuttering embarrassedly while unable to be forthright about what she wanted. That just made her look like a weak idiot and that's not what she was. That aggravated him to no end.

"If I were to tell you my intentions in saving you, would you be willing to answer?" Bargaining worked well with her, and he really wanted an answer to his question.

"Okay," she said suspiciously, crossing her arms over her chest. She hesitantly made eye contact as she waited. Apparently she believed he wouldn't be truthful. So much for her trusting him.

"As you guessed, I had acted to protect you. I will not allow you to be killed by anyone other than me." When she rolled her eyes at what she thought was the end of his answer, he continued. "Despite the fact you can be irritating on occasion, I find you interesting enough to want to keep you around. If you behave, I will likely never have a reason to kill you, as I much prefer you alive."

"You…" She whispered, her expression turning to relief of all things, a small smile appearing on her face. "You like having me around?"

"Yes."

"I… I never really was sure if you did or not," she said softly. Apparently she did need to him to confirm things like this, even when they were quite obvious. He would have killed her or avoided her if he did not gain some sort of enjoyment from her presence. Underneath her outward confidence, she was so unsure of herself that she needed reassurance. This was… This was not something he noticed in her before. It would explain why she got so upset when he denied things she could see were true, but doubted herself too much to believe without it being confirmed by him.

"I guess I'll answer your question then." She took a moment, biting her bottom lip with her attention to the floor once more. Then she looked back to him with what would be determination. "I find you very attractive. Not just how you look, but for some reason your personality as well. Sorry if I was being annoying because of it." When he did not say anything- he honestly couldn't think of how to respond to the answer he so wanted- she turned to the side, hand resting on the door. "Now, if you don't mind, I seriously do have to take a shower because I look like I rolled around in the dirt. Cause I sort of did."

He gave a slight nod, watching as she disappeared into the other room. As he was about to leave she popped her head back out, a smirk on her face.

"You were blushing earlier. I didn't know you got flustered, Ulquiorra," she teased, apparently over her embarrassment now that she admitted she found him appealing. "Did you maybe want to take a shower with me? I…" She hesitated for a second, perhaps still held by some modesty. "I wouldn't mind."

"Not right now," he quickly said, nearly cursing when he recognized he didn't completely shut down the idea. Did he actually want to? Must if he couldn't even deny her offer properly. She really did mess with his head. This sort of teasing surely qualified as flirting and that was just… bizarre.

She quickly ducked her head back into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. He didn't miss the pink on her face as she recognized what he meant. He had successfully made himself more confused. He didn't feel angry at her despite the fact she had made him act as ridiculous as her, with all her human emotions. He should hate her, or at least be indifferent to her, because the alternative… The alternative wasn't something he was ready to consider.

* * *

 **A/N- And I'm back with a very long chapter (like, its two of my usual)! Finally got to Grimmjow and Aracelis's little scuffle. I really do like Grimmjow, though, and Aracelis is pretty similar to him I think. I liked doing all the different POV's this chapter too. I hope it went well, because I really needed to show that Ulquiorra does like her despite the fact he is trying to hate her. Just some more development in that regard. Aracelis too, with her fear of rejection that she's shown a few times now (which is something related to her past, and I will likely get around to that eventually.) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! One chapter (or two if I split up a long chapter) and canon events will be taking place.**

 **Thank you so much for reading! I could use some more reviews, please! I like hearing what people think so much!**

 **FrancisDW, Saya Tsukihime, LilyPot16, and Half Winged Angel in Despair for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan- Grimmjow makes an appearance! I've had this chapter planned out since ch10 when you mentioned wanting him around. Hopefully it didn't disappoint! If I find a good place to work him in again I probably will because he is my second favorite Espada :) And once canon gets going, things will speed up because that is a very chaotic time for sure. (And thank you for wishing me luck; I did fairly well on my finals!) Thank you for reviewing!**


	19. Chapter 19- Introductions

The room remained quiet, the Arrancar all acting well-behaved in front of their soul reaper masters for once. All of the Espada and their Fracción, as well as a few Números, had been gathered into the large room to meet their dear new allies. In other words the entire lot of hollows were bored out of their minds as they waited for the irritating display to be over with. All of the formalities meant to instill a sense of being a cohesive group of higher-reasoning hollows were probably needed, but very annoying in practice.

Aracelis stood near a wall, well away from much of the 'obnoxious' Espada members and their equally annoying subordinates. She was well aware of the burning glares being sent her way by a certain panther's group, all of them now informed that she had been the one to mock them all that time ago. The silvery haired one with a damaged mask wrapped in cloth looked ready to bound over there if he weren't being closely watched by the taller male with black, braided hair. Not that she was really worried about them right now. No, she was perfectly safe for once. No one would _dare_ attack her with Ulquiorra standing literally right next to her.

She glanced at him, careful not to turn her head too much and draw unwanted attention to herself or him. Ulquiorra, of course, stood with his hands in his pockets, eyes forward as he obediently waited. Given how bored she felt, and how she had little else to do, she couldn't help but play over the scene from yesterday for the hundredth time. More specifically how he had looked at her after she phrased her question completely the wrong way.

He… he had definitely looked her over. As soon as that dumb shower question left her mouth his eyes went from her face to her chest, stomach, and legs, before going back to her face, more specifically her lips. She wanted to say she didn't know what to think, but she did. Underneath all the embarrassment she was happy. At this point her face heated up a bit, so she had to take a moment before continuing her own thoughts. He seemed to like what he saw at least. He confirmed that by not wholly shutting down the idea of joining her. He'd even gotten flustered!

Aracelis nearly let out a giggle, but quickly put an end to it. The barely visible pink across his usually pale skin, his pupils dilated as he stared her down, and the look of utter confusion, they'd all been adorable. She'd never seen that expression before. Being flustered was what she did after all. He had been so taken off guard by her ridiculous word-choice that his brain decided to actually consider his answer to the question instead of responding to what she had meant to say.

And she could hardly contain her smile as she thought back to how he explained why he had saved her. She hadn't expected much when he bargained with her. In fact, she just thought he would repeat what he had already said about being the only one allowed to kill her. How much he surprised her. He… He admitted to liking having her around. Just… Just the affirmation that he didn't absolutely hate her, elated her. Such a relief too. Forget any of the infatuation she had for him; knowing that he at least considered her presence tolerable, let alone preferable to the alternative, was something she never expected to hear. Companionship was enough for her in the end. If she at least had her friend back, she'd be happy with whatever he decided to do with her. Because the choice was ultimately his. She'd let him do whatever he wanted to her. Might complain a bit, but she would do what he wanted in the end if only to please him.

Of course, she did still find him attractive and wanted a bit more than friendship right now. She had since laying eyes on his Arrancar form. Not only did she admire his power and how ruthless he could be with enemies, that demanding nature of his, it was turn on for her. For someone that lacked control over herself most of the time, he was everything she wished she was as a hollow. The way his intense green eyes gazed at her… She adored it. And, admittedly, she wouldn't mind running her hands over his muscles.

He shifted his eyes to end her prolonged stare, sending her attention to the floor as she tried to hide her look of embarrassment at being caught.

Maybe it wasn't as strange as she first thought, though, this being attracted to someone. Of course, given what some of the Arrancar looked like, it shouldn't be surprising that _physical_ attraction may happen. Now that Aracelis actually considered the idea, there were quite few attractive Arrancar. How she missed the fact Harribel was gorgeous, for example. Even her Fracción looked pretty; although Aracelis would never admit that aloud ever. Hell, even Grimmjow was physically attractive. His personality was complete garbage though.

Then there was Ulquiorra, who had looked her over and didn't seem outright disturbed by the idea. Slightly confused maybe, but not repulsed. That must have meant he was open to the idea, it not completely foreign and as wholly human as she first believed.

The sound of the room's oversized doors opening forced Aracelis back into reality. After slowly groaning open, the first to enter the room was a bull-masked Arrancar, his mask still whole while his body had become more human in size and form. Rudbornn. She recognized him seeing as he had personally attacked her. Some of his soldiers trailed behind him, leading the others. They were more human-like than before as well. He must have gained a respectable amount of power. He was almost creepier now with the odd combination of his full-mask and human body.

Behind him came a number of others, ones that Aracelis didn't even remember considering they had either been so weak she had ignored them, or they had simply not participated in the fight. The ones following directly after Rudbornn, though, oh man, she recognized those two.

It wasn't hard to guess that the one near skipping into the room, smile plastered across her face, was the damn plant. She had a mask covering the entire left half of her face, the toothy grin of it adding to hers. Her hair remained a bright green, the color resembling the vines that had once been there. For the most part she appeared human; tall and lanky, slightly tanned skin. The exception came in arms. Despite the long, almost floor length sleeves of her shirt, green vines were visible as she bounced along. Aracelis wondered if the plant chose to keep the vines for some reason. An Arrancar, Aisslinger, had done something similar because he believed he was stronger as such. Otherwise the plant was just weaker and had poor luck, not getting a fully human body.

The other, with how her pink eyes glared in Ulquiorra's and her direction, she figured it was the moth. Her body and face were essentially human, the only factors separating her were the pale pink of her hair, and the mask remnants that sat on her head like a partial crown. She would have been beautiful if a massive red scar didn't cut across the white skin of her face and chest. Aracelis assumed that's how the battle must have ended, then. Ulquiorra had all but killed the moth- probably intended too, but something interrupted. Certainly would explain the hateful look she was giving them.

"I am called Rudbornn Chelute," the bull said with an honorable bow in Aizen's direction. "From this day forth I shall be acting as Las Noches's executioner. My subordinates and I will act under the title the Exequias." He stepped to the side, glaring down the moth until she stepped forward.

"Ellzea Batherpa, Arrancar 59," she said curtly, still glaring at Ulquiorra. He ignored her, as blank faced as ever, which is probably why she kept doing it. Did she not know that getting a reaction out of Ulquiorra was near impossible with glaring alone?

"Clematis Jackmanii, Arrancar 60," the chirpy plant announced, bouncing with excitement. "It's so nice to meet you all! I do hope we can be friends!" Unthinkably the plant sent a wink in Aracelis's and Ulquiorra's direction.

Aracelis cringed, glad to see that Apacci and Mila-Rose gave Clematis a disgusted look for it as well. They were all so hoping the plant would be killed. With how Clematis acted, though, she'd probably be dead soon enough anyway. What did they do that made the plant so… _interested_ in them anyway? Aracelis felt she had missed something important while she had been passed out.

It was oddly silent for a moment, like someone forgot it was their turn to speak. Ellzea grabbed the male Arrancar next to her by the back of the collar, tossing him forward a few steps. After the blond finished stumbling, he straightened his posture, spitting out, "Geero Geier, number 62."

"Licidae Accerbi. 63," a voice sounded. Aracelis had to lean to see that a short child stood on the other side of Clematis. The little mosquito she fought apparently stayed small as an Arrancar.

"Patros, 64," said an unfamiliar Arrancar with a mask on the upper fourth of his head and shorter blue hair. He must have been one that had been on the sidelines of the fight. He certainly didn't seem that impressive now, so if she didn't remember someone so weak it didn't really matter anyway. His self-assured tone irritated her, though.

The next few weren't any different. Trash that happened to tag along with them back to Las Noches if anything. Cannon fodder most likely. All the Arrancar were expendable, but these few were even more disposable with their lack of power- probably intelligence, too.

With the final introduction, the meeting- for her at least- ended. While the Espada were allowed to leave, they were to immediately attend another meeting at their grand table to plan something or another; probably that trip to the human world again. Aracelis waited for a bit as the room cleared, particularly until Clematis and Grimmjow's Fracción were well away from the immediate area. Didn't know if they planned on ambushing her once she left the safety of Ulquiorra's side.

Before she took her leave, she looked to Ulquiorra seeing as he was still there. She thought he would run off, but, of course, he must have thought she would get herself into trouble. He probably was waiting until most of the room cleared before directly ordering her not to cause problems while he was busy.

"I'm going to go take a nap," she said once he acknowledged her. That should do. If she were asleep, she wouldn't get herself in trouble. It'd be someone else instigating then. Boring meeting made her tired anyway, so a nap sounded nice.

Ulquiorra blinked once before walking off in the opposite direction, the answer satisfactory. Aracelis rolled her eyes as she made way for the door. When she got outside she planned on using sonido to get to her room quickly and quietly, with no fuss at all. She'd be a good little Fracción.

* * *

Aracelis laid in bed, sleeping heavily as she clutched a pillow to her chest. The last hour had been silent as she slept uninterrupted. The quiet was a welcome change to her constant whining. She could get _so_ damn obnoxious after a while. Then the only way to get her to shut the hell up for a bit was to make her either fall asleep or pass out, and forcing her to unconsciousness took a lot more energy than it was worth. Returning to Las Noches seemed like the perfect idea with all of the powerful spiritual energy to feed off- infinitely better than sitting around in the human world, because that was god awful- but he ruined that. Damn girl never shut up about Ulquiorra, and then he had to pull that stunt yesterday. Only made her like him more.

The sound of the door slowly creaking open interrupted the silence. Someone entered, stepping quietly, but not completely hiding their presence. Wasn't Ulquiorra- he was familiar. This one… One of the soul reapers judging the energy.

A sword was drawn and in a flash the blade nearly sliced into her neck. Aracelis's eyes were open, a glare sent towards the blade held between her fingers with minimal effort. It hadn't been intended as a death blow, then. Something to wake her up? Or was this directed towards him?

Attention went to the soul reaper who had since sheathed his sword. He had white hair, a wide grin, and narrowed eyes. This wasn't the one that accompanied Aizen to fetch Aracelis.

"Gin Ichimaru, right?" he said using her voice, the feeling as bizarre as the first time he had. God he hated the sound of her voice. He stiffly sat up, holding a hand in front of him, flexing a few times. Controlling her to this degree was still so strange. He looked back to the soul reaper. "You never spoke with Aracelis before. I presume you are here for me then."

"And here I thought I would have to beat ya until ya woke up," Gin said as if he were somewhat disappointed. Never dropped that smile of his though.

"Had _she_ been awake," he grumbled, rolling his eyes, "you would have." She was lucky he had been paying attention while she slept or she would have been killed by this weirdo. Although that might have been amusing. Having one of the soul reapers attack Aracelis would have pissed Ulquiorra off but he wouldn't be able to do anything about it without defying his superiors. "Lord Aizen want to have a chat with me?"

"Yep, he sent me to personally escort you. Don't want you getting into trouble on the way. You've made some friends recently, I've been told."

He let out an exasperated sigh, muttering, "That was all her damn fault." He had wanted to kill Clematis. He had told her to kill Grimmjow in the past. Never did a damn thing he told her and it always came back to bite her. Every. Damn. Time. The biggest blunder of hers was Ulquiorra of course.

"Let's get going," he said, standing up, surprised at how easy it had been. That Hogyoku did wonders. Controlling Aracelis's body had formerly taken such effort and lacked coordination, but now… Not only had he used her resurrección with near full control over her abilities, he could control her regular body nearly as well as she could. He'd see how long this lasted, however.

Gin may have said something, but was ignored as they left behind Aracelis's room to begin the trek to whatever throne room Aizen chose to use for the day. Guy had a massive ego, but at least he got things done. Centuries ago Aizen said he'd be conquering the Soul Society, and here he was with an army of hollows preparing to do just that. He deserved respect- his subordinate? Not so much.

Before they left behind the fourth's quarters, a certain nuisance made itself known. Of course he'd noticed him following behind them, curiously not interrupting as they continued to walk. In all likelihood he was studying the odd scene of Aracelis obediently trailing after a soul reaper without as much as a frown. Ulquiorra was smart, he'd easily surmise that Aracelis wasn't in control of her own body.

"It seems we've attracted someone's attention," Gin commented, taking time to wave over his shoulder mockingly to acknowledge Ulquiorra's presence. "Maybe we should invite him to walk with-"

"He can rot in hell," he interrupted, walking faster. This Gin irritated him as much as that damn plant. He knew the damn situation and didn't need to be suggesting such dumb things. "And I thought that you're here to keep annoyances with vendettas away from me?" Given the chance, he was sure Ulquiorra would kill him without a second damn thought. Ulquiorra'd been ready to tear stupid Aracelis open to investigate whatever he thought was wrong with her; damn smartass had likely guessed she had a parasitic hollow in her.

He stopped walking, leaving Gin to curiously wait for the hollow who'd just seemed so set on exiting quickly. He didn't want Ulquiorra to try that again, now did he? He wouldn't lose Aracelis's body under anyone else's decision. No, she was _his_ until _he_ got her killed. So, he glanced over his shoulder to the Espada at the far end of the hall. Ulquiorra stopped trailing after them, face as blank and expressionless as usual.

'You try to tear her apart again and I'll kill her,' he mouthed, knowing that Ulquiorra would understand. 'This body is _mine_.'

No response to the threat. Not that he expected any. The fourth remained as inexpressive as always. How the hell Aracelis made out individual expressions remained to be seen. At this point he figured she was just seeing things. He wouldn't have even tried threatening Ulquiorra with her life if she didn't manage to convince him that the fourth gave a crap about her.

With that bit of business concluded, he turned around, now determined to go speak with Aizen without further interruption from the irritations Aracelis had created for him to deal with. It took a while to reach the other building, the entire walk silent. Or at least Gin was ignored if he had said anything; he had proven too annoying to pay attention to in that sense. The parasite never let his guard down, though, considering the soul reaper to still be a considerable threat strength wise.

The dimly lit room of polished stone was empty aside from the two entering to meet the imposing figure reclined on his towering throne. The throne room screamed 'look at all the power I have,' but so did the rest of Las Noches. What had once been a slab on the ground under Barragan's rule become something incomprehensibly impressive. He could appreciate this show of power, unlike Aracelis who claimed that ostentatiousness was something bad. She didn't get that enemies would take one look at the fortress and feel dwarfed by it.

After a moment passing with no words exchanged, he figured he was allowed to have the first word. "Lord Aizen," he began with a bow, "I have to say I am quite impressed with how well your plans have come together. Not that I doubted you could accomplish such a task," he added as an afterthought, it the honest truth.

From the moment he met Aizen, he knew this man could accomplish anything.

* * *

 _He helplessly stumbled again in the sand as another hollow snapped at them. Another chunk of plating fell to the ground before disintegrating fully. Damn idiot! What had she been thinking? Tearing off her goddamn mask like this!? And then he had to assume control of her body because she refused to wake up no matter how much he screamed at her, oblivious to the danger that had surrounded them._

 _As another hollow dived for them, he slashed at it only to find her claws broke away like brittle twigs. Now her claws were gone just like her wings, much of her plating, her tail, and over half of her mask. The pain… The pain was affecting even him as he struggled to control her body. No matter how powerful he had gotten after decades of using her too feed off energy, this was too much. It was one thing to make her occasionally trip, but this, this was something else entirely. Even now, surrounded by hungry hollows waiting to sink their teeth into a Vasto Lorde, he could feel his control slipping away. If they killed her now, he would be too weak to take a new host._ _ **He would die too.**_

 _He dove onto the ground to snatch up the one thing he could use as a weapon now- ceros were no longer an option with how weak they both were. When he woke up, a sword had been beside Aracelis. The sheath was tossed to the side as another hollow flung itself at them with its mouth gaping. His arms shook as he tried to hold back the hollow as it pushed against the blade, him too weak to actually cut through the thickened skin of its mask. A kick to the underside of its chin allowed him enough time to roll to the side, then back to his feet, ready to try sprinting away._

 _With widened eyes he froze in place._

" _How rare it is to see a Vasto Lorde transform into an Arrancar," the man, obviously a soul reaper, commented as he easily killed one of the hollows foolish enough to attack him. He wore a smile, but, behind his glasses, his eyes were not as cheerful. No, he perhaps seemed amused, the friendly smile only a falsehood. "Rarer yet to see such a powerful hollow infected by a parasite."_

 _He stumbled back a step at the soul reaper's words. No one should be able to sense him. Not hollows. Not soul reapers._ _ **No one.**_ _This man, this soul reaper terrified him to the very core. To come alone to Hueco Mundo and then confront a horde of hollows, a Vasto Lorde at the center… This wasn't an act of arrogance. The soul reaper was just_ _ **that**_ _powerful._

 _Another of the hollows fell to the soul reaper. One by one the numbers dwindled away, him still too scared to move on his shaking legs. He stood a better chance with the hollows. Running away was the only chance he had, and even then he was sure the soul reaper would catch him effortlessly. This is what the face of death looked like._

 _Eventually all of the other hollows lay dead and dying on the ground. The soul reaper then turned attention back to him. He tried to walk backwards only to lose balance in the sand, nearly falling to the ground._

" _Who…?" He strained as he tried to force her to talk. In the end that was all he could force out, control slipping more and more as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly in the face of this soul reaper. "Why?"_

" _My name is Sosuke Aizen," the soul reaper began, actually humoring the hollow's request, "My ambitions will require me to have powerful allies. The two of you could be very useful to me in the future."_

" _Why… would," he growled, narrowing his eyes at the soul reaper. Searching for hollows as allies? Who the hell did this soul reaper think he was? "No… reason to… work with." Like he would bow down to some soul reaper, even one as strong as this Aizen was. It pissed him off. He'd sooner die._

" _Greater power is what I offer you. In the future, I will have a way to make it possible for you to indefinitely survive outside of a host, as well as being able to control a host's body more fully than you are able to now."_

 _Survival outside of a host? For more than a few days? That sounded too good to be true. But more control and power in general… What did he have to lose at this point? If he refused the soul reaper was sure to kill him. Should he accept, there was a chance at living, but also at gaining more power than he believed possible._

" _Condition… Keep girl… Ability useful to me." He wouldn't lose her ability. Not when she was a Vasto Lorde; anything less would be a step down. "Arrancar?" That term had been unfamiliar, and he would need to know exactly what the girl had done in tearing off her mask._

" _It is a hollow that has torn off its mask to more resemble a soul reaper in both form and ability," Aizen explained. "That blade you hold is a zanpakuto. It will allow her to take her hollow form again."_

 _He nodded, it sufficing. It would explain the sword, and the name and command he felt belonged to the blade. "Aracelis." He pointed to himself, introducing with the girl's name to be referred to by. No one ever got to know his name after all. "Slight problem," he said, finding it a bit easier to speak now with practice and the threat of death not hanging over him so blatantly. "Bad if she knows sword. Wastes energy when fights. Can't feed." Whenever she battled opponents as strong as herself, or more so, she expanded far too much energy. If he could prevent this now that her true power had been sealed in a zanpakuto, he would be able to gorge himself on the energy she took in without worry of her stupidity. Or as much of her stupidity, anyway._

" _I have a solution to you problem. I need only have her awake. Now, I have one additional request of you." Aizen said, reaching for the sword at his side. "If you would just look at my sword, I will be able demonstrate its ability. Surely you will see how helpful it will be in subjugating your host's will."_

 _And, after viewing Kyoka Suigetsu's ability, the parasite relinquished his control over Aracelis. When she first awoke, Aizen was waiting to trick her into believing she had no inkling as to the power of her sword, as well as its name and command. With that concluded, Aizen left her behind to come to with no knowledge of everything that had transpired over the last hours as she became an Arrancar._

* * *

"Do you find your new strength acceptable?" Aizen asked, making small talk before actually issuing out whatever orders he did have. It's not like he actually cared if he met the hollow's expectations on something 'promised' so long ago, especially when he found even better tools to use.

"More than acceptable," he laughed, flexing her fingers again, so pleased at the control. "I am to the point that anytime she is near unconsciousness I am able to overpower her, as you witnessed." At least Ulquiorra had reported back that he could use even her resurrección without her knowledge. That likely lead to this meeting; he showed he could attend without Aracelis waking up to interrupt the conversation. "I could probably wrestle control away from her while she's awake." It would take a lot of effort, but he could manage it.

His power had grown that much. Soon after the Hogyoku had been used, he almost revealed himself to Aracelis. He could talk to her with his own voice instead of masquerading around as what she assumed was her instinct- he felt like a genius for telling her that when she had been a Menos. He had accidently done so, not knowing she could hear him so clearly, but she was so caught up thinking about Ulquiorra that she played it off as her imagination. Such a good thing she was an idiot.

"I am pleased to hear that," Aizen stated with false-sounding relief. "If you have gained so much control you should be able complete the tasks I wish for you to fulfill. Continue to kill whatever you deem useless within Las Noches; I have no need for them. Feed upon them if you so desire"

"Understood," he responded after Aizen paused. He could get away with that, even under Ulquiorra's watch. The fourth had no aversion to Aracelis killing the weak. If he believed her take on the situation, Ulquiorra even _enjoyed_ watching her ripping apart the useless.

"As for my other order," Aizen began again, a more serious tone to his voice now. "In the off chance this war is unsuccessful, I want you to kill off any remaining Arrancar. Tools shouldn't be left lying about for other people's use, not when there will be no benefit to me."

"Understood," he repeated. Aizen was calculating, always considering every single possibility at every turn. The soul reaper had been planning this for centuries after all. He'd have expected everything and anything at this point. He wasn't about to badger his leader for an explanation that would take far too long to describe; he wasn't Aracelis. Orders were orders.

When he thought he would be dismissed, Aizen brought up a new topic. A topic that annoyed him greatly. "I am surprised to see you, or rather Aracelis, is so well acquainted with Ulquiorra." Aizen sat back in his throne, watching for a reaction. "Will being his Fracción prove a problem to you?"

He held his tongue; Aizen had already recognized that Ulquiorra knew Aracelis when he essentially ordered Ulquiorra to take her as a Fracción. "No, in fact it is preferable. He has powerful spiritual pressure that I get to feed off while she clings to him. He is so preferable to her, in fact, that I had tried to ditch her for him in the past." He ground his teeth together for a second before snarling, "But he spared her instead of finishing her off!"

He had been ready to make Ulquiorra his new host, done with Aracelis's whining to the point he would give up her ability for someone with immense spiritual pressure instead. He had drained nearly every ounce of her spiritual pressure, made her lose vision, reopened the wound on her side, stopped her regeneration, and forced her to trip onto her own damn sword! And then Ulquiorra didn't finish her off. He was supposed to end her miserable existence so he could latch onto Ulquiorra while he was weakened from battle and lacked physical sensory. But he didn't. He showed her mercy instead.

It was the mask incident all over again, but worse. When she finally woke up after he screamed at her, too weak to take control after using so much energy trying to kill her, she had a close call with the pathetic hollows that had surrounded them. After missing the opportunity to have Ulquiorra, he hadn't been about to lose her too.

And then she sat around the human world moping. For _years_ he nearly starved, barely hanging on when he got her to eat the occasional hollow they came across, all because she couldn't find her precious Ulquiorra. Bastard. She had wasted so much time looking for him and sulking when she couldn't find him. Time she could have been hunting for proper meals instead of the garbage in the human world.

"Lord Aizen, may I ask where you found Ulquiorra?" Bastard wouldn't tell Aracelis, so maybe Aizen would. "The stupid girl looked all over Hueco Mundo and about drove me insane with her whining when she couldn't find him."

"We had found him trapped in a large thorn-covered tree," Aizen responded, his tone not hiding his amusement at that fact. "He would not admit why he was there, instead appearing quite disturbed that we pulled him out without killing him or letting him return. Of course his attitude changed after being given such great power, and a purpose to guide his existence."

The parasite burst out laughing, unable to restrain himself. Even if her voice resembled screeching to him he just had to cackle away. The tree! No wonder Ulquiorra had seemed so hesitant to speak about it. Did he crawl in there to die or something? Idiot Aracelis saw the foolishness of it, so he definitely did it on purpose. "Man, I hope he tells her that." She would be so damn upset by this fact. It'd be a riot! If he told her himself it wouldn't be half as funny though.

"You are dismissed, if that is your final question."

"It is," he said with another bow, able to tame the grin across his face to properly address the soul reaper. "Thank you, Lord Aizen. I will do everything in my power to fulfill your wishes."

"Off we go then," Gin's cheerful voice came, reminding him that he had been standing there the entire time, taking in the exchange between the two.

He gave one last nod of his head to Aizen before turning to follow Gin out of the room. His glare was set on the back of the white-haired soul reaper's head as they walked through the doorway into the hall. He didn't need the escort back. It would be a few second long trip back using sonido, as Aracelis had done earlier.

"Hello," a high-pitched chip sounded from behind. When he glanced over his shoulder, Clematis smiled happily, waving an oversized sleeve in his direction excitedly.

Did she want to torment Aracelis? The plant had latched onto Ulquiorra as well, so she had knowledge of the fourth's memories. Clematis apparently got a rise at teasing the two with her knowledge. He would just ignore her attention-seeking.

"Oh, Alarico, how rude of-"

In a flash he slammed the plant to the wall by her throat, eyes wide as he bared his teeth at the still grinning plant. She squirmed a bit, choking her awkward because she was a few inches taller than Aracelis and made sure to stand on the tips of her toes. Made it harder to hold her to the wall with neck-crushing force like he wanted.

"What did you say?" he barked, pressing harder, increasing Aracelis's spiritual pressure as an additional threat.

"Mister Mirro," Clematis laughed, raising her arms so her sleeves could fall back to reveal the bunches of vines that substituted hands. "This isn't very nice of you."

He shoved against her, the stone wall cracking with the force. She knew his name and was just shouting it out for all to hear. And she knew more than just that. Everything from his past, from Aracelis's human and hollow past. How dare she try to pester him with it.

"If you breathe one word about me, I will slowly tear you apart and devour you, bitch."

"If I did that, what fun would there to be had!?" Clematis kept a smile plastered to her face as she desperately tried to pry his fingers from her neck with her vines. "I really do like Aracelis though. Such a tragic life she's had." She was dead set of chattering.

"Shut. Up." His grip tightened, but the plant's vines pulling at his hand kept her airway open just enough that she could continue forcing out words with only slight strain.

"Oh, but Ulquiorra is quite damaged too. I wonder, how upset do you think he would be if he learned of all the misery you've caused dear Aracelis? That you ruined her human life? That you caused her to become a hollow?" Clematis coughed a few times as she tried to giggle. "That you split them apart? How upset he would be!"

"Do you want to die!?" He brought up his other hand, Clematis's lime eyes going wide as his pressed both hands into her throat. Did she think she was safe by doing this in front of one of the soul reapers? No, he would kill her if it meant everything about him stayed a secret. Her threats were very real. She knew everything, not just his past, but exactly how his abilities worked. Like how to force him out of Aracelis. Should Ulquiorra learn this, he would be dead. If that bastard actually did care about Aracelis, Alarico would be killed for all the grief he caused her.

"What the hell do you even get out of this?" Screwing with him and Ulquiorra was goddamn death wish! Why the hell did she keep meddling in this matter?

"En..joy…ment," she forced out. Clematis then averted her attention from Alarico, looking over his shoulder to shake her head at the soul reaper about ready to step in. Her desperate attempts to wrench free ceased as she instead coiled her vines around him, thorns digging into Aracelis's weak skin. She flared her spiritual pressure to the full extent of her ability. As she neared blacking out Clematis gave a wild grin as Alarico's vision began to cloud over as well.

 _Aracelis being stabbed by her own sword, coughing up blood as the wound on her side reopened. She fell to the ground before trying to grab the blade only to find her hand awkwardly dangling downward, wrist broken._ A memory? No, it wasn't their point of view… _A clawed hand reaching for her as she lay on the ground frantically repeating his name..._

Alarico stumbled back, dropping the plant as he reached for his chest at the sudden flash of pain. "What… What the hell?" he muttered, body shaking uncontrollably. That feeling was… Something akin to an intense, paralyzing fear. Then physical pain. All because Aracelis appeared to have stopped breathing in that memory. "What the hell was that?" he screamed at the plant.

Clematis pushed herself away from the wall, rubbing her neck as she giggled lightly. "The Hogyoku really is something, Alarico. Before this I have never been able to share the memories with anyone beside their original holder, let alone what they felt. Did you enj-"

Clematis spewed out a puddle of muddy blood onto the floor, entire body quivering she reached to remove his hand stabbed through her stomach. He pulled his arm out from the gaping hole he left, stepping back so Clematis fall to her hands and knees on the floor. A kick to her side made her fall over so he could grind his heel into the side of her head.

"You're annoying." Alarico pressed her head into the ground as she tried to grab the foot pinning her. "No one's going to save you now," he growled, hoping the soul reaper took the hint and stayed out of this spat permanently. She declined his help; he couldn't step back in when she'd lost. "You're going to die like the pathetic worm you are."

"Entangle, Memoria."

Still trapped beneath his foot, the plant used her resurrección, her sword having been hidden in her vines the entire time. Her form morphed back to the vine-haired creature they fought previously, the only difference being the plant retained a pair of human legs underneath a mass of vines sprouting from her hip-line. Despite this all she stayed on the floor with a foot smashing her grinning face into the ground.

Alarico paused under the additional spiritual pressure Clematis released. Not from fear of the plant, but someone else.

"She can still sense her surroundings when you're in control, such as a massive change in spiritual pressure," Clematis said plainly, although it showed that she did have an intimate understanding of how Alarico's ability worked. "Someone as annoying as me, she will surely wake up to fight soon. You don't want that, do you, Alarico?"

He raised his foot from her head only to give her a swift kick to the stomach that sent her flying into the wall, a few chunks of stone falling to the floor with her. While it may be true he didn't want Aracelis to wake up and become suspicious as to how she got there, he had some time before that happened. Killing Clematis would be a good use of it.

Soon after smacking into the wall, Clematis picked herself off of the floor to skip down the hallway like she was making a grand escape. Without moving Alarico turned, aiming an open palm at the plant. A straight hall had nowhere to flee to. The blue glow of a cero gathered in his hand to give light to the toothy grin he had.

Then he found his hand being forced closed, the energy fizzling out like nothing under the soul reaper's crushing grip. "Now, now," Gin chided, smile now seeming threatening as his demeanor changed. "We don't want to make a mess, and Clematis still has a meeting to attend."

Alarico tore his hand away, glare shifting from the soul reaper back to the plant as she merrily pranced back over to them.

"Whatever," he growled, stalking down the hallway. Aracelis would be waking up if he stayed near Clematis for much longer, and he had some things to get done now because of her. Before Aracelis woke up he needed to clean off the blood caked to her arm, change her clothes, and return her back to bed so she didn't have any idea this spat had ever happened. Unless Ulquiorra told her, which he doubted. Ulquiorra was being oh-so-careful with Aracelis just to be sure she didn't end up dead. That was the one thing he had to his advantage; Ulquiorra didn't want to tell Aracelis about him unless he was sure she would be safe. Which she wasn't. Aracelis would resist too much, and it'd be annoying. He'd sooner kill her than have her aware.

He'd have to kill Clematis another time as well.

* * *

She appeared to be asleep. He had waited, seeing what the parasite intended to do with her upon returning from what had been a meeting with Lord Aizen followed by a fight with Clematis. Soon after showering, she was put back to bed like nothing had ever happened. Ulquiorra doubted she would even remember leaving.

Now he stood watching silently from the entrance of her room, hands in his pockets as he stared at her back as she slept soundly. The parasite did not seem keen on speaking with him further, its warning all it had to say to him. Too bad it divulged how conscious it was. If it were not awake near constantly, it would be odd for it to have known he could read lips. It complicated matters if it were always conscious and monitoring Aracelis's activities. Telling her remained risky in that regard.

The parasite did, however, make another telling mistake. During the earlier battle he assumed the plant had read Aracelis's memories, but that would not explain the parasite's ire towards Clematis. It had been its memories she had seen. Something worth killing her at all costs over. He would be interrogating the trash following his trip to Karakura, then.

He closed the door that still hung open, intending on the noise waking her up. She didn't so much as twitch. He wondered how much energy the parasite actually expended in taking full control of her. After using her resurrección, Aracelis had slept for a few solid hours, followed by her sporadically napping as he carried her and upon arriving back at Las Noches. Her scuffle with Grimmjow and Clematis combined with the parasite taking over would likely leave her sleepy for the next few days. Removing the parasite in a weakened state would likely be safer.

Honestly, the lengths he went through for his ridiculous Fracción's sake…

"Aracelis."

She whined in her sleep, rolling over, still refusing to wake fully. He would just leave her be, but she would be upset if he left Las Noches without telling her. He really didn't care, it would just make matters simpler when he returned if told her now. Not listening to her complain later was enough to warrant this curtsey. At least she would behave the few hours he was gone in Karakura and while reporting back with whatever he found. It also gave him the chance to gauge if she had any awareness while the parasite had been directing her.

"Aracelis," he repeated flatly.

Groggily, she opened her eyes, appearing disgusted at having been forced to get up. She glanced at him, expression softening for a second before she forced herself to sit up in bed. "Feels like I didn't even take a damn nap," she complained as she fought a yawn only to lose. "Thought naps were supposed to _not_ make you more tired." After rubbing her eyes for a few seconds she turned her body towards him, sitting crossed-legged. "Why are you here? Did you need something?" She tilted her head to side expectantly as she waited for a response.

"I will be leaving for Karakura in a few hours' time."

"Okay, okay, I'll be on my best behavior while you're gone." After rolling her eyes she added, "Probably stay here and sleep." Aracelis pursed her lips just as he was about to turn to leave, the thoughtful look she had made him stay. "Actually, would you mind if I left to go talk with some others?"

He automatically assumed she meant the third. To his knowledge Aracelis hadn't had a chance to speak with Harribel without the third's Fracción present. Whatever it was Aracelis wished to tell her, she intended to do so privately. The only reason he knew this was Aracelis had complained once or twice that the only time Harribel was alone was when she was at meetings, then trying to convince him to tell Harribel she wanted to talk. He refused of course. He didn't act as her personal messenger; apparently just her caretaker and bodyguard.

"I was thinking that maybe sparring with Aisslinger and Demoura might be a good idea," she explained after what she must have thought was a prolonged silence. "The two should be about the same strength as me, and they're positioned on the far end of Las Noches so it's less likely that Grimm-cat or giggle-weed would be around. My ego needs a break from being beaten to pulp by members of the Espada." She glared at him as she said the last part.

Such a petty creature- so what if he had sliced off her arm twice while trying to teach her the other day? She had made a major mistake and paid the consequence. He at least allowed her to survive; enemies would not be so forgiving. It's not like her arm didn't regenerate both times. Even then they could reattach limbs so long as they were not wholly destroyed when severed.

"That is acceptable," he answered eventually. The two would be good training partners for her. Demoura was slow in both speed and intelligence, but powerful if he did land a hit. Aisslinger had the speed and intelligence, but lacked great power. Aracelis had been right in that regard: she stood a chance against the two. While he would not call fighting him unfair, as battles were not grounds for ideals such as _fairness_ , she could barely manage to scratch him.

"Neat." And, with that, she grinned at him, eyes playful. "So, going to the human world, are you? I know you just _adore_ that place." When he didn't respond to her teasing him for the apparent irony of him- who always refused going to the human world with her- having to go _without_ her, she pouted. "What is Lord Aizen having you do there anyway? I don't really see why a town is a target."

"An initial assessment of a few humans that Lord Aizen finds interesting. The area itself has a high level of spiritual energy, which will be necessary in using the Hogyoku."

Aracelis's eyes went wide at hearing the plan, this the first time he decided to mention some of the finer details to her, it now information the Fracción could be told as they began making their move. "I a… Wow, that is a… Hmm." She bit her lip before finishing her reaction with, "An entire town, huh? What an unlucky bunch of humans."

"Do you feel sympathy for them?"

"What?" Aracelis waved a hand dismissively. "No! No, they're just humans. I don't know them, so why would I care about them? They're insignificant, really. I mean, what do they live, like a century at most?" She sounded defensive at him directing the emotion solely at humans instead of the fact she felt sympathy for _anyone._ She really must have accepted she had a tendency to act human.

Suddenly her brow scrunched together with some great question she thought up. "Why is Lord Aizen interested in humans?"

"A few of them exhibit abilities beyond what is normal, although they are still trash." Right now, he doubted any of the humans would be able to disrupt Aizen's plans, nor be useful to him in any way. The one boy may, in time, but that is why Aizen wished him to go assess his skill level. Even then it seemed that Aizen had a plan of how to use this Kurosaki to his advantage.

"Abilities? Didn't know humans could do any neat tricks. Never saw any that could while I was there, so it must be fairly rare, but, then again, I was also never in an area with a large amount of spiritual energy like where you're going. Probably affects them like it does anything else. Should have gone to an area like that; maybe wouldn't have been so hungry. Wonder if…"

While she rambled he couldn't help thinking that she was rather smart when she actually chose to be. Not nearly as intelligent as him, but not a complete imbecile like most of the other hollows in Las Noches. If only she used her brain more often.

"Well, um, good luck with the mission, then," Aracelis finished, noticing that he hadn't actually been paying attention to her as she spoke.

Once again he was about to leave, but her expression stopped him. She chewed her lip, her eyebrows pushed together as she stared at him. Not only that, but she appeared rather uncomfortable since waking. Her expression when she first saw him had been rather peculiar as well. Pitying almost.

"Do you have more to say?"

"I… It's really weird, and you'll think it's stupid, but..." She broke eye contact in favor of staring at the floor. This was something else that was being to bother him; that needlessly chastised look whenever she wished to ask him something like he would punish her for it. He might choose to ignore her, but he did not punish her. "Do you… Would you be okay if I, ah, hugged you?"

He felt his eyebrow raise slightly at her bizarre request. She was seeking comfort from him. Alone that would be strange, but right now, he saw no perceivable reason for it. For once she wasn't seeking his approval or injured or otherwise in need of comfort. This didn't even seem to be a pitiful attempt to gain some physical affection from him because she genuinely appeared to be saddened by something. So he bluntly asked, "Why are you seeking comfort from me?"

"Right now, or in general?"

"This moment."

"I don't know. I just… I feel like I had a sad dream or something. Can't really remember what about, except that it had something or another to do with you." She wrapped her arms around her chest before halfheartedly laughing, "It's stupid. I know. Just forget I said anything. Still half-asleep I guess."

She was right. It was stupid. A dream had this much of an effect on her? Ridiculous. Fantasies should not have such a powerful hold over her. They weren't real. Not to mention hollows didn't dream to begin with. What use is fantasizing to a creature that has to be mentally present at all times to avoid death? "Do you dream often?" Did she pay so much attention to her thoughts that the outside world was ignored completely?

"I sure as hell daydream a lot, but I never dream when I sleep. Which is why this is weird. And part of why it's bothering me, although the feeling of it's far worse." Aracelis shifted, looking to the side for second before attempting to explain it. "Just, its sadness I guess, but almost like desperation too? Like the brink of death, enemy standing above you to finish you type of desperation, but at the same time very lonely and empty? Despair almost? Like the world came to an end? It's hard to describe, and not being able to name it properly bothers me. If I'm going to act human," she grumbled, apparently irked by it herself, "I should be able to at least understand why."

"And somehow embracing me will make you forget this discomfort?"

"So skeptical, aren't you? No, it wouldn't make me forget, it'd just make it a bit more… tolerable." Aracelis gave a heavy sigh before adding in defeat, "You're right though. You are not here to comfort me to begin with, so I'll just shut up. Sorry for bothering you with my stupidity again."

He really should have left at those words. Instead he became curious as to how one small act of affection could bring any amount of comfort when despair was one of the emotions she said she felt currently. The last thing he needed to do was be affectionate towards her; it would make matters worse than they already were. He did not need her thinking he cared about her wellbeing. No, he just didn't understand her preoccupation with physical contact with him as a source of comfort. Did he not hurt her constantly? Did he not present himself as a threat to her? Apparently not if she trusted him enough to invade his personal space without thinking it would be the death of her. Instead she considered such close contact as comforting.

"Why are you still standing there?" Aracelis narrowed her eyes at him, the suspicion momentarily outweighing her sadness. "Are you considering this still?" When he didn't deny it, she smiled hopefully at him. "Can I?"

"If you must," he decided. He wanted to know what she got out of this ridiculous exchange. Certainly this wasn't because he wanted a hug; that sounded revolting. This was just a small experiment in trying to understand the odd hollow and her excessive attachment to him.

"R-really!?"

She quickly slid herself off the bed and nearly ran over to him before he could come to his senses to tell her no. As soon as she stood in front of him, Aracelis paused, taking in the fact he would not be taking his hands out of his pockets, nor do anything to return her embrace. Even then she did not seem disappointed in having the opportunity.

After taking another half-step closer, she managed to sneak her arms under his to wrap them around his torso. Then she leaned into him as she pressed her face into his neck. For a few seconds they just stood there. Aracelis felt warm. Even when carrying her back to Las Noches, he noticed that she always felt so warm to the touch. Now, as she pressed herself to him, he decided this wasn't wholly unpleasant. Not the emotional connotation to the hug, rather the physical seemed more appealing with her against him. That stupid shower comment of hers hadn't left his mind yet, apparently.

Aracelis released him, taking a step back to put some space between them. He could already see the small smile on her face. "Like hugging a stiff board," she said, positively beaming.

"I do not understand what you gained from that." He hadn't even returned it, but she seemed more than happy at just that. A few seconds and she looked as if she had been handed the world.

"So that _was_ just you experimenting, huh?" She sighed, rolling her eyes. "I guess I expected as much. Thank you, though, for humoring my weird request. I feel a bit better, I suppose."

"Strange woman."

"I know. But I've wasted enough of your time with my oddness. I'd say have fun in the human world," she said with a shrug, "but you won't. It's a mission so you'll be all business. Which is good, because you'll get done what's needed."

He only gave a slight tip of his head to conclude their conversation, actually managing to turn around and walk out the door this time. Over the next few hours he would need to forget about Aracelis and her problems. He would be reporting back to the entire Espada and Lord Aizen, and did not need her on his mind when he should have been gathering information. Repeating the last mission's results would be far worse in front of the rest of the Espada. Grimmjow already had an idea he was attached to Aracelis. Dealing with that was annoying enough.

He also needed to choose another of the Espada to drag along to the human world; perhaps Yammy. The idiot would cause a stir, he was sure, and draw out the targets. This would be something to consider.

Whatever the case, Ulquiorra prepared to go to the land of the living to put a start to Aizen's plan.

* * *

 **A/N- Now, that should be it for introducing characters (by name). Alarico Mirro (aka the parasite) #58 has been revealed! I know his name is quite similar to Aracelis, but that was on purpose to be confusing (I just hope not** _ **too**_ **confusing). Also a bit of the past is revealed… Like meeting Aizen the first time and trying to kill Aracelis to take over Ulquiorra only to fail because he spared her. He's a salty bugger too. As for Aizen's orders to him… I'm just going to mention I never read the Wandenreich arc but thought that Aizen, if he knew he would/might fail, he would not want anyone to have his tools (as they are later used as such by both sides in that arc). IDK, I hope it's sound enough reasoning, or one of the 'it's a fanfic, logic doesn't need to be there' type of detail.**

 **And just if it isn't very clear, Aracelis had been affected by Clematis's earlier memory sharing with Alarico, which she thought was just a dream.**

 **Also stuck in Patros for later since I liked those random episodes, and Aisslinger 'cause he is a random Arrancar I appreciate.**

 **Ellzea Batherpa's name's from Elizabeth Bathory and a type of pest moth combo. Clematis is literally a plant name. I like names. Its cliché as all hell but I like picking out name meanings. Usually puns or bad jokes… If you actually want to know them all, I'll share; just don't want to take up space for something pointless. At least tried to make them sound Arrancar-y. Enough rambling, I suppose.**

 **As always, thank you to everyone reading! Special thanks to Narwhale Sweq, Ultron emperor, and Tanaraza for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan** **\- Wow, possible fav chapter last time, huh? I actually really like that one too, it came together very nicely. Oh, Grimm-cat, I'm happy he was in character because I am fond of him too. Such a grump when it comes to his kingly pride. Glad the shower part ended up being funny! I sort of came up with that as I was working on that chapter, like many little 'cute' moments so far (those are rarely planned, so when they go well I am very happy!) Thank you for reviewing and the continued encouragement!**

 **Sissy** **\- Hello again! I understand the late night reading; that's when I read a lot too. And at least the updates are worth it in the end! Yeah, Ulquiorra's getting there at a snail pace… You'll have to wait and see what I do, though, but I have plans :)** _ **Definitely**_ **got some plans. And my projects and exams went very well! Thank you for the wishes. And, of course, thank you for reviewing again!**

 **The Shy Scorpio** **\- Thank you! I'm happy to hear that it has been an interesting read so far! And that you've loved it thus far as well! Thanks for taking the time to review and leave some feedback, because, yeah, it's very motivating to me!**


	20. Chapter 20- Commencement

Aracelis climbed the last set of stairs with a defined purpose in mind. Earlier, after waking up from a several hour long nap, she had had a short conversation with Aisslinger and Demoura, the two initially suspicious, but eventually agreeing to be sparring partners with her. Needless to say her 'charm' didn't convince them. Rather she ended up implying that Ulquiorra had some input on the matter, that he would come and speak with them should they not comply. Out of respect or fear of Ulquiorra -she wasn't sure which- the two quickly agreed. It wasn't a particularly nice thing to do, but hilarious that she could throw out Ulquiorra's name to get what she wanted from at least some of the hollows in Las Noches. She would have stayed and actually played with the two if she didn't have a more pressing matter to attend to.

About ten minutes ago a place she wished to explore became open to her with the leave of one gloomy Espada. She promised to return to poke through Ulquiorra's room, and she fully intended to use him being gone as her one opportunity. While getting caught wouldn't necessarily be the end of her- she was pretty sure, anyway- he would probably be less than pleased. Rightfully so, but still, she had been curious enough to try her luck.

Once she invaded the space, she was taken aback by the plainness again. It's not like hers was much different, devoid of any décor a human household may have plastered to walls, everything a lovely shade of white, but hers looked lived in at least. While she had her blanket in a pile on the foot of her bed and pillow anywhere she left it, Ulquiorra's bed in the corner was so lined up it looked like a tape measure had been used to precisely place the pillow, the blanket tucked in so neatly that wrinkles were unheard off. She knew he likely never used it, as she couldn't remember a single instance of him sleeping, it still was astounding how tidy it looked. The rest of the room followed suit, too, with the furniture immaculate, the floor polished and without a single scuff, and not a particle of dust to be seen. And, well, the door wasn't about to fall from its hinges because some pissed off, overgrown child of a hollow decided to slam it closed too harshly after getting upset by her dear friend the living statue.

After getting over the disturbing cleanliness, she walked towards the desk to her area of greatest interest: a pile of books stacked neatly on the corner. Of course she could just ask for some of her own choosing, but she had no idea who to actually request them from. From what she could tell, Aizen would prefer his Arrancar to have a certain level of intelligence; looking at his preference to send Ulquiorra out to do tasks, for example, seemed to hint at this fact. It's not like the hollows acted like idiotic children with zero understanding of the world, much of what they knew was just horrendously outdated. They retained a majority of their human knowledge that dealt with facts, but seeing as how many of them died decades, if not centuries, ago, things had changed. Aracelis had been shocked to see the advances in medical care, for instance. Who knew that leeches weren't always the answers to ailments, or that mercury was a toxic chemical? Of course, in the end, these where all just trivialities that held no bearing in a land of supernatural monsters. Which is why she found it curious Ulquiorra, proclaimed master of logic and reason, spent his time reading trivial books on human subject matters. That's what she did.

First she removed the a pile of official, bound documents that had likely came from the great and powerful soul reaper prick himself, those for later perusing, she then found the several regular, unassuming books she had spotted her first snooping trip. Without paying mind to the cover, she flopped a rather thick book open to a random page to skim.

Nope! The book was quickly slammed closed. Too many long science-y terms that she didn't understand. Psychology, actually, now that she looked at the front cover. Psychology with a focus on chemical reactions in the brain. She put it to the side still, even if the subject caught her off guard.

The last time she attempted to understand such nonsensical terms without an in-depth preunderstanding of the subject, she had scared about a hundred humans. Pathetically enough, she had enjoyed puttering around human schools during her stay in the world of the living. One day she had been sitting in on some sort of high-level science class. After about an hour of not understanding a word out of the professor's mouth she got frustrated, went to the front of the class, and punched the blackboard into oblivion. Keep in mind the poor humans couldn't see her and just suddenly had a board splintering in the middle of a dull lecture. She had a good laugh about the reaction, but had been very irritated that she couldn't understand the material at all. She didn't like feeling like an idiot. After that she even more pathetically stuck to children's and young adult's classes because the words made sense and that level of science then involved pretty color changes and the occasional mini explosion.

So, yes, she wouldn't want to break Ulquiorra's room and wouldn't be reading the book. The subject was enough. He'd taken an interest in psychology. _Human_ psychology. Other than surprised, she had no idea how to react to his strange choice in light reading. It's almost like he actually had interest in humans, just reading instead of directly observing like she did; the books had more to deal with the chemical make-up and structuring of the brain than the abstractions that were human motivations. She would be flattered if he had been reading it just to understand what the hell was driving her emotional reactions to things, but that didn't appear to be the case. The book, and several more of a similar sort, had been on the bottom of the pile, forgotten under a sea of soul reaper information. That also confused her more, though, as then he had taken an interest in humans all on his own, which meant that he had been spending time learning something rather pointless seeing as dealing with humans through means other than fear wasn't necessary. Very odd indeed. She would have to ask him, not even tease him, just ask, because she didn't know what to make of it.

She returned the books to where she found them in a neat stack, ready to move onto something she would actually want to read about. After digging though the pile of documents she found somewhere she deemed proper to begin. Soul Society and soul reapers, she didn't actually know much of them. Her knowledge essentially began and ended with the fact soul reapers used their zanpakuto to send innocent souls to the Soul Society in some sort of redemptive ritual called a konso, and that they killed the hollows that preyed on those precious souls. And, what she had worked out from observation, was that souls could be driven to hollowfication through being bound to the sites of their deaths or through contact with hollows. Soul Society itself was a mystery.

She… she had once considered going there. After tearing off her mask, she had grown so tired of Hueco Mundo and the World of the Living. There had been nothing for her in either. No further evolution possible, no more battles to be fought, no purpose existed without the hunger driving her every action. Which is why there came a time when she thought that perhaps going to the Soul Society and killing whatever she could before being brought down may have been the solution. The only reason she hadn't…

 _I am honestly beginning to think you should have gone_ , the voice cut in on cue. _Might have been a better option now that I see the results._

"Shut up, you made me stay in Hueco Mundo," she snapped. She could talk to herself since she was alone, so screw instinct verbally today. She would all but scream to herself hysterically. "I just made the best of the situation and found something to keep me distracted."

That's what this was about. It always came down to the fact she had found something that kept away boredom, and that instinct did not approve of her method. Had she not sought out someone to speak with, she would have undoubtedly found something to do that was just as reckless and dumb as rampaging in the Soul Society. Because what else was there as a hollow? Fighting. Fighting was a hollow's entire existence until they could no longer find a challenge to occupy them. Take a creature's reason to live, and of course they will do anything to feel alive instead of the profound emptiness that was living amongst mindless creatures without a purpose.

Yes, she had been lonely. That had always been the damn reason. What she often called boredom was the feeling of being alone with monsters that could not understand what evolution wrought. Sure, she would play around with humans and soul reapers, but what distraction they offered was insignificant because they would never be able to comprehend what it was like to be a hollow suddenly devoid of their natural damn purpose. She wanted someone who understood her. That's all. That's all she ever wanted. That's why she went to find a hollow to befriend. So that maybe they could make her feel like she was understood, and that maybe they would too as they evolved. That they wouldn't feel as alone as she had…

 _Making friends ended up as bad as throwing your life away in the Soul Society! Look where that foolishness has gotten you! You've always been so damn naïve and weak and useless!_

"Shut up," she nearly whispered. She really did hate thinking about all of this. Every time she was just reminded how pathetic she was. Instinct repeating it over and over never helped.

 _Such a whiny little bitch. Just shut up and admit that this stupid idea of friendship had backfired completely, like I warned it would._

"Oh, so would you rather us be dead than in a position of power? Had I not befriended him, we would be nothing here. Being Fracción to the Fourth Espada is clearly a better title than what we would have had, had I managed to somehow live through an attack on the Soul Society."

You think it could be happy with that fact Ulquiorra kept her alive, both in the sense he kept her from most suicidal stunts and sparing her when he could have very well ended her existence so many times. She even sat near the top of the tyrannical soul reaper's army because of Ulquiorra. Of course, she had become rather dependent on him in that sense…

 _None of that-_

"Shut the hell up," she hissed, grabbing the book in her hands. "I'm done! I'm done with you right now. I'm going to go read." At least doing something kept her concentration off of the irritating bastard her brain apparently was.

She stalked off to the bed, sitting down on the edge before opening to the first page of information. Might as well get comfortable, because he would know she was in there anyways. She couldn't just walk off with his things, he would notice. It's not like she would have the book done before he returned. And, no matter how hard she tried, the books were probably not back in the exact same place either. When he got back she would just fess up to poking around. It's not like she snooped through his drawers or anything; she just looked though what had been lying in the open.

Until then, she would just wait for him to return, like she always did.

* * *

The ground broke apart as Yammy smashed into it, their landing a large crater in what appeared to be a park on the eastern side of Karakura. The crash echoed out, the tremor catching the attention of the humans immediately. Both he and Yammy were releasing a large amount of spiritual pressure, which would only ensure that their arrival created a suitable stir to draw out their main target, as well as perhaps a few of the oddities that existed in the town.

As far as he could tell the human world had not changed since the days of him being a lesser hollow. No one nearby spurred any interest, his pesquisa picking out those with any amount of spiritual pressure were all still a distance away. After another moment he unzipped the collar of his shirt. The air was so thin in the human world. Choking, even. The World of the Living was a hostile environment for hollows, only good for hunting, but it had been a perfect hiding place because of this. How a creature that feeds off reishi survived such a long stay here remained a mystery to him, however.

"I came here quite often when I had my mask," Yammy began, "but the World of the Living is as boring a place as ever. The reishi density here is so thin, I can hardly breathe," he annoyingly complained, despite it being a fairly accurate observation from such an idiot.

"Stop complaining," Ulquiorra ordered, not wanting to listen to Yammy whine as they waited for some of the targets to arrive. "I told you I can manage alone. You're the one that insisted on coming, Yammy." Not really, Ulquiorra had a very specific goal in mind earlier in 'accidentally' crossing paths with the brute. He put the idea into Yammy's head when he mentioned that he was leaving for Karakura. Yammy would inevitably make a commotion that would flush out the targets, efficiently drawing them in instead of wasting time searching the entire city. The less time he spent in the World of the Living, the better.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, brushing off the comment as he began to crawl out of the crater of his own creation. "Sorry, sorry," Yammy added before pausing at the top of the crater, his face twisting up into something even worse than usual. "What's this?"

All around humans stared at the hole in the ground, throwing out theories of how it was created, what should be done, how they felt about its appearance. Truly human in their obliviousness.

"Don't come near me when you don't even have any spiritual energy!" Yammy then used his Gonzui ability, any nearby humans falling to the ground as their souls were forcibly torn from their bodies. As expected, Yammy was creating a scene. If this Kurosaki kid cared for his fellow humans, then he was sure to show up when so many had been killed. "Yuck, that tasted awful!" Yammy complained as soon as he finished killing off what had likely been over a hundred humans.

"Naturally. Weak souls like that wouldn't taste good," Ulquiorra commented offhandedly. It was something to be done by weaker hollows. The human world. Humans. They held no purpose to them at this point. They were nothing but trash to be kicked to the side.

"But they kept staring at me like I was some freak show!"

"They can't see us. They weren't looking at you." Did Yammy not even understand that much? His patience for Yammy's stupidity only went so far.

"I know, but it's still irritating!" Yammy boomed before glancing around. "So? How many are we supposed to kill anyway?"

He didn't pay attention when Lord Aizen spoke apparently. They had reviewed this a few times by now. "One. There is no need to kill anyone else." Ichigo Kurosaki was the only one they needed to concern themselves with. The humans, they were nothing more than a passing interest of little consequence. Should they appear, he would gauge their abilities, and then decide if they miraculously had any worth to Lord Aizen.

"This place is overflowing with them… and you wanna kill just one?"

"Here in the World of the Living I'm told there are perhaps three who have the spiritual pressure to fight up to par." Two soul reapers, and then Kurosaki. Everyone else… "The rest are trash. It will be easy to search them out."

Movement caught his attention. One of the humans, a girl with dark, short hair, struggled to push herself off of the ground, somehow still conscious after Yammy's Gonzui. "I'm surprised," he muttered, not expecting that a random human would survive such a close range attack. "There's a survivor." Once the girl caught sight of them, her reaction showed she had the ability to sense them as well. Rarely were humans capable of seeing hollows. An oddity. One of several that this spirit energy rich area had to offer.

As they walked nearer to her, his interest waned. When Yammy stepped in front of her, she froze, eyes transfixed in fear. She could no longer even move, a fraction of a moment away from death at their mere presence. This human was as unremarkable as any other in the end.

"So… I can't suck out her soul with my Gonzui. Whether she's out in the open or hiding, this means she has some power in her soul!" Yammy turned his attention away from the quivering human. "Right? Ulquiorra! Is she the one?!"

"Look more carefully, idiot. Her spirit's almost crushed just from you getting close to her. She's trash."

"Sheesh! So it's just by luck that she lived through my Gonzui? Crap," Yammy grumbled as he stared at the girl again, apparently disappointed that the obvious trash had not been as powerful as he presumed. Yammy lifted a foot, excitedly yelling "See ya!" as he prepared to crush the worthless human like the insect it was.

His foot was stopped by a human male, his arm rather resembling a hollow's. Behind him an orange-haired woman darted to assist the other girl after chattering briefly with the male. These two had accompanied Ichigo Kurosaki to the Soul Society. Lord Aizen had provided them with that much information, but they had been so insignificant in the battle it was unknown what they were capable of. Perhaps they could provide some entertainment for Yammy while they waited for the true target to arrive.

"Ulquiorra! Is he the one?"

At least he bothered to ask, he supposed. "Yammy, you should practice your pesquisa and learn to make your own judgements. One glance should tell you… He's also trash."

He barely paid attention as Yammy struck down the human in a single swing. "Ulquiorra," Yammy asked again, "Is this girl trash, too?"

"Yeah, trash." The constant guidance this idiot needed, it was bringing to make him regret his choice in bringing him with. Even Aracelis didn't need this level of direction.

"I see!" Yammy cackled as he lunged at the girl, intending to crush her with a single finger.

His hand stopped, a shield of some sort shattering with the impact. The orange-haired girl stood slowly, a look of determination across her face as she stared them both down. Did she intend on fighting them with just a shielding ability? Ulquiorra couldn't begin to explain how foolish that would be. Her barrier barely held back a lazy attack from Yammy. These humans, they did not seem to understand just how outmatched they were. This stubbornness tired him.

"What is this girl?" Yammy blurted out, offended that the girl still stood defiantly.

Ignoring Yammy, the girl said another incantation different from the first. The male with his arm torn apart, the injury began to mend underneath an orange barrier of sorts. Healing powers? No, that wasn't it. It went beyond a simple healing power. It was time, or perhaps space reversal in how it negated Yammy's attack as though it had never happened. Whatever it was, this power was something he had not seen before.

"You are a strange one, woman," he commented, mainly to catch Yammy's attention to say not to kill her right away, that he found this woman's ability something of interest. He watched as she prepared to make another move, holding her hands out in front of her. With how obvious the fear across her face was, she must understand there was no way for her to win against them. Fighting against all odds, humans were such foolish creatures. Their deaths were inevitable.

"What's this? A fly?" Yammy said after easily swatting away whatever pitiful attack the girl had created. "What do you wanna do, Ulquiorra? She has a rare power. Should we take her alive and present her to Lord Aizen?"

"No, that's not necessary." While an oddity, the girl, nor her ability, seemed too impressive. And, well, there was another spiritual pressure speeding towards them with what appeared to be flash step. Presumably this was the target, and what better way to determine his ability than to threaten one of his friends? Humans' strong bonds with each other caused them to do such foolish things after all. "Erase her, Yammy."

"Right!" Yammy lunged forward, the girl shrinking back as she prepared to be struck. The soul reaper appeared in the last moment to stand with his zanpakuto aimed for Yammy's outstretched hand, his attention solely on the girl. As if they were not even standing there, the orange-haired reaper assured his friend that 'I'll take care of these guys. It'll all be over.' He even went as far as to comfort her before turning to face the enemy. How arrogant.

"Bankai," the soul reaper said before a blast of spiritual energy was released in a chaotic flash of power. He stood confidently as he aimed the black sword at Yammy. "Orihime, stay back," he said, the girl nodding before doing as she was told.

"Bankai? Hey, Ulquiorra… This guy…" Yammy waited for an answer, excited that the target had finally arrived so he could pummel them into the ground.

"Yes. Who would have thought your silly maneuvers would smoke him out so easily?" Apparently using Yammy had worked, albeit he felt quite annoyed with the idiot's bumbling and constant shouting of his name so he could answer obvious questions. No matter. "Orange hair… A black Bankai… No doubt about it. He's our target, Yammy."

"I saved us the trouble of searching, huh?" Yammy laughed, shouting out, "Suerte!" as he swung his fist at the soul reaper. He seemed quite shocked that his hand had been stopped, the kid not even sliding back as Yammy shoved against the blade.

"Are you the one who hurt Chad's right arm?" Ichigo asked rather calmly despite the ire in eyes.

"Ha!" Yammy laughed, grin widening as he taunted, "So what if I did?"

With surprising speed the soul reaper jumped up, sword piecing into Yammy's arm. When Ichigo landed on the other side of Yammy the arm fell to the ground. Such a fool. That's what he got for lunging out without first gauging the enemy's strength. Yammy really should master using pesquisa like he had suggested multiple times. But that kid… He sliced through Yammy's hierro and cut off his arm. It had only been a short time since he learned to use Bankai, but his spiritual pressure was exceedingly strong. Still, that level of power could not possibly pose a threat to Lord Aizen. Ichigo was stronger than the other humans around him, but remained trash.

"It seems you are having a hard time. Shall I take over?" he directed at Yammy if only to get him to stop whining and flailing about. It had just been an arm, and he deserved if for being so reckless.

"Shut up!" Yammy reached to his side, hand on the hilt of his sword.

"You need to resort to your zanpakuto for a foe like him?" If he used his resurrección… Things would get out of hand quite quickly. Talking reason with Yammy wouldn't work, however.

"I said, shut up!" Yammy snapped, continuing to draw out the blade.

The soul reaper suddenly fell to his knees, hand over his face, unable to wholly hide his panicked expression. Whatever sort of crisis the kid found himself in, it gave Yammy enough time to step forward to kick him. Ichigo appeared to have frozen, Yammy punching him into the ground without resistance. The woman, Orihime, ran forward in vain hopes to protect her friend. The back of Yammy's hand sent her flying a distance until she rolled across the ground, unconscious. Yammy returned to beating Ichigo, eventually grabbing hold of his head and dangling the limp soul reaper above the ground.

It was very strange. The kid's spiritual pressure had suddenly increased, and the range in which it fluctuated was abnormal. When it was low, his spiritual pressure was inconsequential… But when it was high, it was more than his own. Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes as he stared at the strange human that not only had soul reaper powers, but somehow had spiritual pressure that could overtake his. What was going on with this kid? Is this why Aizen was so interested in him?

Yammy tossed Ichigo to the ground and raised a fist to put an end to the soul reaper. He nearly celebrated but found his attack blocked by a blond man wearing a striped hat, his sword held out in front of the two to create a barrier Yammy couldn't break through. Yammy lunged once more only to find himself flipped over a dark-skinned woman's shoulder. Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihoin had arrived to protect the humans.

"You bastards!" Yammy screeched as he prepared to charge forward again.

Yoruichi quickly had Yammy on the ground following a flurry of jabs and kicks. This, of course, angered Yammy even more. The woman's eyes went wide as he charged a cero in front of his gapping mouth. As it fired, Kisuke stepped in once more to block it with a similar attack, which he then painfully attempted to explain to Yammy. Just before Kisuke called out another command to his zanpakuto, Ulquiorra used sonido, sending the soul reaper's attack skyward instead of into Yammy.

"Ulquiorra," Yammy began mockingly only to end up being smacked backwards by a blow to his stomach. "What was that for?"

"Fool," Ulquiorra once more repeated. "The blood has gone to your head, Yammy. These two are Kisuke Urahara and Yoruichi Shihion. At your level, you don't stand a chance against them." He would let Yammy be killed if it didn't reflect poorly on him. Losing an Espada to a bunch of humans and two soul reapers would be absolutely pathetic.

There was no need to stay. He had reached his conclusion about the worth of these humans he had been sent to investigate. He walked past Yammy, opening a garganta a few feet away from him. "Retreat," he ordered, making it even more obvious so Yammy understood that they would be leaving, no further complaints, or he would regret it. Yammy gave up and walked into the garganta.

Just as he prepared to step through as well, Yoruichi shouted, "Running away?"

"A very foolish taunt." He turned to face them. "The two of you would fight me while trying to protect trash who are on the verge of death? Surely you know the odds lie in my favor… In any case, our mission is over. We'll report to Lord Aizen that the wannabe soul reaper he has set his eyes on," he paused as he walked into the void connecting to Hueco Mundo, "is trash not even worth killing."

Because the boy, at his current level, wasn't worth the time. This would be enough to report back with. Lord Aizen and the rest of the Espada would witness that as the truth of situation. The human acting as a soul reaper was nothing to concern themselves with right now. Later, perhaps he could be useful, hence leaving him alive for the moment may prove the best decision.

It was the Soul Society's turn to act now.

* * *

What should have been a straight-forward report, had been made tiresome by two blue-haired irritants.

Grimmjow had been particularly upset by his decision to leave the kid alive, or any of them alive, for that matter. Grimmjow went as far as attempting to call him soft for what he saw as leniency towards that trash he had been confronted with. Likely it had been an underhanded comment about Aracelis as well. Ulquiorra had to re-explain the situation to the idiot despite it being very obvious from Solita Vista just to silence him. The Sixth appeared determined to take the situation into his own hands. Lord Aizen left the decision to _him_ , and he would not let Grimmjow interfere with his responsibility. He would need to constantly monitor what the Sixth and his underlings were doing now if only to prevent them from going against Lord Aizen's orders.

And Aracelis… She simply hadn't been there. All the other Fracción had attended the debriefing but his own decided to skip. What had she been thinking? She had been so interested in the humans. She would wish to know what had happened during the mission in detail. The perfect opportunity would have been by attending the meeting and actually witness it under Solita Vista. She could not complain about him ripping out an eye for _just_ her if he had used it for the entire room to see. Perhaps if she experienced it she would get over her apparent aversion to it. Inevitably he would be telling her later.

The little escapade to the human world, while physically effortless, had become mentally exhausting. He needed to be away from the idiots, if only for a few hours. Isolating himself in his room sounded perfect, because rarely was anyone foolish enough to go there without reason. Or it had been.

As soon as he approached the tower he pinpointed Aracelis as having made herself at home in his room. When he swung open the door, expecting her to either panic at his return or spit out excuses, he found her asleep on his bed, face buried in the pillow as she clutched it. Beside the bed laid the apparent purpose of her visit: one of the files of soul reaper information had fallen to the floor as she nodded off while reading. Had she missed the meeting because she had fallen asleep? No, in all likelihood, she hadn't been told. He hadn't mentioned it to her before he left. Had a servant come to inform her, she would have woken up though. In the past, even a weak hollow passing by caused her to jerk awake- or perhaps even the parasite had been the cause, sensing possible danger as she slept. The only exception had been him because she could subconsciously recognize his presence, deeming him a non-threat, and continue on with her nap unless he actually made an effort to wake her. He would be checking if this were fact, however, because missing the meeting had been irresponsible had she been at fault.

Still, he wondered why one of the servants' didn't inform her. They were typically well-behaved, so scared of him that they wouldn't dare do something to anger him. While the Espada often used Aaroneiro's synchronized thoughts to be called upon, the Fracción were not a part of that system. Surely at least one servant or Número had been informed to gather the Fracción, Aracelis included, when he and Yammy returned. It was… suspicious.

He walked to the side of the bed, picking the book off of the floor and returning it to the pile before looking back at her. Waking her up would mean answering her questions now, or listening to her shout if he refused. He wasn't in the mood for speaking and, honestly, he had come to his room to lay down and stare at the ceiling for a while to clear his mind.

…

He would probably regret this decision.

Before actually moving Aracelis, he worked her zanpakuto out of her sash just in case the parasite decided his actions were ill-advised. If it did react to this ridiculous whim of his, then he would have an opportunity to try and interrogate it. Otherwise he wouldn't have worried about Aracelis waking up and attacking him. She would be confused more than anything, he was sure. With her sword on the desk a distance away, he rolled her onto her back gently before lifting her up and scooting her over to the other side of the bed. After leaning Murciélago against the wall next to the bed, he lay down next to her, staring at the ceiling.

Nothing. He didn't find this situation uncomfortable other than being bothered by the fact he _should_ be disturbed by her closeness. This happened to be another thing about her that confused him. Being physically close to her, it originally bothered him to the point he went rigid when she approached because she could have chosen to kill him at any time. She had been dangerous. Yet that eventually gave way to _this._ He knew why, of course, but that is where the problem arose. He trusted her. What other explanation was there? After being around her for a time, he had made the decision that he trusted her not to harm him, at least not intentionally. What purpose did trust hold other than the inevitability of betrayal? In the end, he had nearly killed her, betraying the trust she had in him. Was it not a matter of time until she did the same to him?

Blind trust in others, it was what got people killed. That human girl had been convinced the soul reaper would protect her and look at what that trust had earned her. She had been near broken to pieces when the boy froze up in battle. Such stupidity from the two, he refused to believe that he and Aracelis were the same. But this trust he had for her…

An arm being flung across his chest distracted Ulquiorra from his thoughts. Aracelis had flipped over in her sleep to return to her favored sleeping position. He… he honestly expected her to do this at some point. She always slept clutching something or another, in the past her sword, in Las Noches pillows, and now him. Before she had a chance to pull herself closer and snuggle up to him, he turned to lay on his side to look at her.

Impulsively he reached up, tracing along the side of her mask remnants, following the white edge of it until his finger met the end near her mouth. She slept soundly, her lips parted slightly, and her closed eyes relaxed instead of narrowed into her usual glare. Peaceful even after he had arrived. He moved his hand to her shoulder, fingertips brushing down the skin of her arm before he rested his hand on her hip, considering if he wanted to pull her closer to perhaps feel what it would have been like to return her embrace. Instead he just absentmindedly rubbed his thumb in small circles.

She was attractive to him. He still found it odd that it had taken that comment for him to notice. This was something unfamiliar. Physical attractiveness… It wasn't something he typically considered. In all likelihood, he had probably only noticed this because he was close to her. Everyone else was held at a considerable distance, as comrades or superiors or trash. Aracelis alone had managed to make a distorted place for herself, her title more reminiscent of _friend_ , or, as she called him, companion, than simply a subordinate _._

His finger brushed a raised line of skin at the bottom of her ribs. For a second he froze, realizing it was a crudely healed scar. The few on her arms had disappeared since they had been severed and regenerated over her time in Las Noches, but the one on her side remained. He had… During that fight, he had given her it, slicing her open with his claws. The one that…

He narrowed his eyes as he shifted his gaze to her right shoulder, a portion of the scar visible to him. During that battle, she had acted the same as when she had been fighting Grimmjow. Her vision had failed her, leaving to look where Ulquiorra had gone even though he had stood in front of her, stabbing at her with her own sword. That stumble messed up the aim to send the blade through what he had assumed to be her heart. Then her spiritual pressure dwindled to nothingness.

Had the parasite been attempting to kill her then as well? What reason did it have to do such a thing? While fighting off the Adjuchas, it had been so desperate to keep her alive, yet in battles with far stronger opponents it tried to kill her. And to drain her energy while in battle, why? Did it plan to ditch her to survive whatever had killed her? Or was there another reason?

To find this out, he had two options currently: beat Aracelis until the parasite became conscious and attempt to speak directly with it, or threaten Clematis into revealing what she had seen. Both options were not without out their faults. Despite himself, he would rather not beat Aracelis. The idea did not appeal to him because she would… She would be more scared of him than she already was, but that was another subject entirely. As for Clematis, getting the truth out of that _thing_ would be arduous. While yes, he could easily kill her, he would have no way to confirm whatever she told him immediately, which would give her the opportunity to escape if she happened to lie. She did not seem to value her life anyway. He would find a way to get rid of the parasite no matter what though. He wouldn't allow it to kill Aracelis. She was his.

He ran his fingers over the scar one final time. He should have been more careful with her. Or he should have at least seen something was wrong with her long before now. Beyond her strange personality and spiritual pressure fluctuations, he should have noticed the parasite's existence. It was far too late now. The Hogyoku had likely been used on the parasite, strengthening its hold on her. Removing it now would be far more troublesome than it perhaps would have been in the past.

After one final glance at her face, he rolled onto his back, staring at the ceiling. What should he do with her? She wanted to be in some sort of ridiculous human relationship, if he had to guess. Lust he could handle- at this point, he would be glad to-, but more of her human-ness? No, that wasn't allowable. She made him so weak, eroding away his control and reverting him into an emotional being like her. Clematis hadn't helped matters by dredging up the past either. These _feelings_ , they would interfere with Aizen's plan. Ulquiorra would remain loyal to the soul reaper's cause; he had been pulled from that death trap he had sentenced himself to and given a purpose, so Aizen had his loyalty. He would not be going back on that now. Not for the woman that caused him to end up in this position in the first place.

But, even then, he wasn't prepared to forget her, nor let go of her completely. If anything, he may just end up pushing her away like he had been trying. Unfortunately, she would likely keep allowing him to do as he pleased no matter how she felt. She would let him use her and toss her to the side, so long as she believed it was what he wanted. This tendency to submit to him… He had believed it was what he wanted, but seeing her actively afraid of him while just asking a simple question or her sudden lack of confidence in herself to the point she apologized for asking for what she desired… Seeing her like this distressed him. There was no other damn word for it. He didn't know how to react to it because he was used to seeing her act with near arrogance, demanding respect, and saying whatever popped into her head. Her behavior was driving him insane. This change, he didn't understand it. Only that it developed as she began to want a relationship. Her pain made him reluctant to force her away… Even if he shouldn't care how his actions affected her…

He would keep trying to push her away by not meeting her expectations then. And, should she not tolerate his mistreatment-which would be the sane thing to do-, then she was free to abandon his side and let him return to behaving as he had before her arrival in Las Noches. That would best for them both. If only she could hate him –if she didn't care for him, nor him her- it would make matters so much easier. Returning to being indifferent to everything, not caring if the world came to end, it had been so much easier than this.

* * *

 **A/N- And Canon! I will not be writing out whole episodes very often, and I only did it here because I could show the contrast in Ulquiorra's thoughts regarding humans and associates versus Aracelis. And, well, I like the scene cause he just seems so annoyed with Yammy the entire time because he's as smart as rock (episode 113 and 114, if anyone is wondering). The dialogue was taken from the sub version (because I liked it more than the English in this instance, as I like both versions overall) So, yes, only writing episodes when conducive to showing something in particular. I'll mention the events or give another view though, or summarize them at least, cuz they are still important, clearly.**

… **Despite the part in the middle, this ended up being a fairly sappy chapter I think. Aracelis didn't give an actual reason for wanting to make friends until now, and Alarico berating her definitely doesn't improve the situation ever. And, I, um, yeah hopefully Ulquiorra's character has developed at least somewhat believably, because he has changed from what had been shown in the few canon moments he actually has. Well, that's it for the moment!**

 **Thank you Isabellag9705, sylph0fspace, and Nuricchi for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan- Yep! Introducing Mirro had been a chance to show he has a big part in her past, because only he and Clematis know about it in detail right now. At least it made some semblance of sense because yeah, one question answered and several more appeared indeed! Glad Clematis' taunts got you curious about the past:) Chapter 8 had a hint in it~ I love foreshadowing things, but I think that it can be a bit too subtle or vague most of the time (like one or two lines that would make me lose my shit if I had been rereading a story with the end in mind, ya know?). And stir up shit in the human world they did! I really love those episodes (actually, the Arrancar arcs in general are what I tend to watch again and again)… which might explain why Ulquiorra ended up being a fav of mine. Such a good antagonist. And just seeing the hollows as more than mindless monsters as they had been until that point… I just** _ **really**_ **love the Arrancar, but I'll stop before I gush on and on, cuz I could. Thanks for reviewing!**

 **Lunar Loon- I'm happy to hear you are still excited to read on! Thank you for reviewing again!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- Haha, well I'm glad you think they're good puns (Ellzea's I really like, but Geero's is 'Spear Spear'. Aracelis's last name Fonsecca is a bad joke too. Means 'dry spring' and dragonflies live on water, but she's a dead dragonfly... my sense of humor's pretty bad) I'm really happy that the story hasn't been predictable! I can't really gauge that well because, well, I'm writing it. And glad you liked the introduction to the parasite (Alarico Mirro) and that Aizen knew about him for quite a time (he had a part in many of the Espada's pasts, so I decided to have him play a role in Aracelis's too). So, so, so happy that everyone has been in character too, because yeah, Ulquiorra especially since he is such a difficult person to keep in character while also having him get close to someone. But he did act the same as he did in canon, because they are just trash to him, but he also compared trusting Aracelis to the humans, so IDK. And I was pretty worried if his character development made sense while typing this chapter, so happy that you think that's working! As for spelling names, I have to look up most of the Espada's names every time because they are ridiculous *Aaroniero's name kills me -_-* and Aracelis's name, by default, needed to be sort of strange too. Thank you for reviewing again!**


	21. Chapter 21- Escalation

"I'll bathe in her blood and have his head on a spike!" Ellzea screeched to anyone unfortunate enough to be nearby. "Just look at me! At what they've done!" She ground her teeth together before screaming again. Her fist met the mirror in front of her to shatter it. Honestly, why she kept replacing the mirror only to destroy it every time she looked in it…

"My face," she hissed, throwing her hands up as she returned to pacing about the room, fuming. In her defense, the Fourth really had ruined her face. His attack not only left a large scar, but cost her sight in her right eye, leaving the iris cloudy and unresponsive to even light. How sad. How very sad. She was so very pretty beforehand.

"I still think you're beauti-" Geero began, only to end up being slapped across his face- the unmasked part of course. The blond stumbled back, rubbing his cheek. He at least stayed quiet for once, knowing any response would earn him another smack.

"Shut it, feathers! I don't give a crap about what you think! Open that stupid beak of yours again and I'll tear out your tongue," Ellzea shouted at her subordinate.

"Do you really believe you'd be able to kill either of them?" Licidae commented off-handedly, most likely looking to create a stir. The little child-like hollow did so enjoy getting on other's nerves through insulting them. Today she was being rather bold with her commentary, though. Apparently she missed Rudbornn. Those two would tear at each other for hours with subtle words; quite entertaining.

Dordoni was still funnier. Too bad the weirdo ended up a disgraced Privaron for his actions. Sentenced to the outskirts of Las Noches, escape prevented by Rudbornn. She'd go visit if he wasn't so out of the way. And, well, Rudbornn would probably be suspicious if she planned on escaping and chase her back into the depths of Las Noches. Or kill her. He was still sore about having to carry her to Las Noches like a pack animal.

"Shut up, flea, no one asked for your damn opinion," Ellzea shot back, rage building.

"It is a fact, not an opinion." Licidae didn't even flinch as Ellzea caught her by the front of her shirt and hoisted her off of the ground. "If you believe you can kill an Espada, then you are an imbecile."

Ellzea opened her mouth, ready to end the argument with something a bit more destructive than scathing words. Clematis pulled herself off of the couch she had claimed, skipping over to interrupt the cero before things got out of hand.

"Now, now, Ellzea," she chided, earning the immediate attention of the pink-haired woman. "You know she's right." Clematis gave a sparkling smile when Ellzea sneered at her.

"I hate you," she grumbled, dropping Licidae to the ground and stalking a few steps away, arms crossed over her chest. A stubborn child having a tantrum, that's what Ellzea was. "I can-"

"Ellzea~," Clematis whined to stop her. "You know you can't hurt him so easily. That's why you did something so petty earlier. Trying to annoy him without even showing him it's you pulling the strings…" Clematis pouted. Loly and Menoly had been so kind, telling them that Aizen wished for their presence when Ulquiorra and Yammy returned from their mission. "Making adorable Aracelis miss the meeting; how mean!"

Convincing Aizen's little worshipers to not tell Aracelis just to get back Ulquiorra for stealing their precious soul reaper's attention from them… Ellzea was desperate to get back at her disfigurer, going as far as using things like Loly. Oh, they were all just so petty. And weak. The underhandedness she enjoyed, just it had been far too subtle. Ellzea made herself a nuisance more than a menace. Clematis had a much better idea of how to play with her two favorite lovebirds and their voyeur!

"If you like her so much, go bother her instead," Ellzea snapped.

"Are you jealous, Ellzea?" Clematis leaned forward, grinning as Ellzea rolled her eyes while sighing. "Anyway, would you be up for a bit of fun tormenting the Fourth and his cute Fracción? I promise it's a lot better than tricking messengers. _Much_ better."

All three of her dear friends focused on her, earning a round of giggles from Clematis. She had something fun in mind. Nelliel served as her inspiration! Or, well, Ulquiorra's memories and conjectures of the events of the former Third's disappearance was her inspiration! Meeting her end at the hands of a brute like him after refusing to fight him so many times. He even ripped off her friends' masks to provoke her! What better way to upset Ulquiorra than threaten his dear Aracelis's life with such a cretin.

"Yes, something very fun indeed!"

* * *

Aracelis whined lightly as she began to wake up despite how cozy she was. She felt pleasantly warm even if she had fallen asleep without a blanket. Her face especially as she nuzzled her nose into the fabric in front of her, it decently warm. And firm.

Wait…

Her eyes snapped open as she realized pillows weren't as firm as what she currently cuddled with. Not to mention she suddenly remembered that she had been in Ulquiorra's room, reading, before she apparently dozed off. All she could see beyond her nose happened to be white fabric, her face pressed to the side of his chest, his arm around her shoulders. Her arm was on top of his chest, hand resting on his right pec.

Did he seriously just lay down next to her? And… And let her _cuddle_ with him? She couldn't make sense of what the hell had happened, or if she was even awake at this point. The situation was just too strange for her still half-asleep brain to process. She just stared forward with wide eyes as she tried to figure out why he allowed this. Seriously, she nearly had her damn leg wrapped around him too… Probably did at some point before she began to wake up. With her face heating up, she sincerely hoped he had been miraculously asleep and didn't know she had herself draped across him at some point.

"If you are awake, you are capable of leaving," he said flatly, confirming that her luck hadn't improved any. He didn't sound upset, his voice matter-of-fact instead of harsh or cold. His words weren't even an order, more a suggestion than anything. A curious reaction, actually.

She sat up, avoiding all eye contact as she rearranged her legs underneath herself, keeping her hand on his chest the entire time just to see if he, in fact, had been enjoying the attention. He didn't do anything to stop her. Hesitantly she looked at him, his face as blank as ever, not betraying a single clue about his current thoughts.

"Sooo, I see you're back," she began, nearly cringing at her own lame observation. He didn't even respond to it because of how pointless answering something so blatantly obvious would be. "I… I bet you're wondering why I'm in here?"

"You had been reading before you fell asleep. I've noticed as much," he stated, his stare making her laugh nervously.

"Yeah, I saw you had some books laying out when I'd been in here to fetch you a new shirt. I don't really know where to get any of my own, and I had been snooping to see what you had." When he narrowed his eyes slightly she quickly spat out, "But only what was out! I mean, I didn't dig through your desk or anything!" Almost made her wish she did. His lack of amusement made it seem like he had something to hide. "Should I have? Do you have some naughty stuff hidden away?" Great word choice, she berated herself.

"It is considered rude to invade other's privacy."

"Oh, so you're not denying anything? You have something good hidden away?" She grinned, before sighing. "Yeah, don't worry, I won't go through your things anymore. I'd just been curious about the books is all." After a short paused she tilted her head as she asked, "So how was the human world?"

At that question, he sat up as well, although he did not try to shake her hand off. No, he either didn't notice that she kept her hand resting on his chest, or he knew full well what he was doing. Being as observant as he was, though, he definitely knew, making this all the more confusing.

He gave her another blank look, his voice a tiny bit annoyed as he said, "Had you attended the debriefing like you should have, you would know."

"What debriefing? No one told me I was invited to one," she huffed, nearly crossing her arms over her chest, but settled on frowning. Had she taken her hand off, she would have missed the small sigh he gave at her reaction. "I would have gone otherwise! Seriously!" No one mentioned a damn thing to her. Pissed her off because it sounded like Ulquiorra was mad at her for not going. If she didn't get to hear about the little trip because someone screwed her over, she'd hunt them down and pulverize them.

"It was boring."

She focused her attention back onto him, leaning forward a bit with interest at his apparent distaste. If that was the end of the story she would lose it.

"The human world is as full of trash as ever, the humans I had been sent to investigate not even worth the effort of killing." He paused for a second, continuing after she gave a look telling him she wanted to know more. "Our target had been a kid that was a soul reaper despite being a living human. Yammy managed to lose an arm to this soul reaper after foolishly lunging forward."

"Idiot," she cackled, the thought hilarious. "Got what he deserved, didn't he? I'm surprised you took him with you, considering he's so obnoxious." She smiled when she saw the exasperated look in his eyes that screamed 'I regret that decision.' "Was the kid anything interesting?" Soul reaper abilities while still living, she couldn't even understand how something like that might work. Managed to slice through Yammy, too, which she probably couldn't manage herself. That made him fairly powerful.

"The kid's abilities were about as controlled as your own." Her glare only seemed to amuse him because he kept talking like he hadn't just insulted her. Comparing her to something he just called trash, definitely an insult towards her and not just a comparison. "The only other human of any interest was a woman with the ability to reverse time or space. She herself was weak, but her power unique."

"Man, that all sounds so neat! Wish I could have seen…" That's probably why missing the meeting had been an annoyance to him. He more than likely used that weird memory sharing ability thing he mentioned. "Not enough that'd I'd have you rip out your eye again, though." Mutilating himself to show her something she didn't really need to know didn't sit right with her, even if he could regenerate the eye. It still had to be painful, or at least uncomfortable to tear out your own eye. "That's just… gross."

"Gross," he repeated, her word choice getting him again, before quietly adding, "Such a strange woman."

"I know," she said, rolling her eyes. It was though. In general, ripping out an eye to literally show something was disturbing and gross. He was strange for thinking otherwise. "I miss anything else while I was out?" Nodding off for no reason, she really needed to stop that. Why did she feel so damn tired the last two days? Fighting with Grimmjow hadn't been _that_ exhausting.

Ulquiorra gave a slow blink, his green eyes once more slightly narrowed in irritation. "The Sixth found how I handled the mission to be inadequate. He is likely to do something idiotic. Be aware of him and his Fracción. Should they leave Las Noches, inform me."

"Got it. Cat and friends get out, tell animal control." Her comparison earned no reaction so she shrugged in defeat.

They both fell into silence, Aracelis mainly because she didn't have much to say. She had no idea what he was thinking, even. Suddenly allowing so much contact. Where the hell did this change come from? Less than a day ago he had been reluctant to even let her hug him, yet now he decided that letting her drape herself on him didn't bother him at all. It had to be he was playing around again, trying to figure something or another out, but she couldn't see what that _something_ was. Certainly she stepped over a boundary in essentially laying on him. Unless that had been his goal…

"Aracelis."

She snapped her attention back to his face, her eyes somehow having wandered to his chest under her hand. Her face felt flushed again too… Actually, her entire body felt like she was on fire. She wouldn't drop the idea, though. No she would, um, test a theory before she intended on leaving. He might react poorly, so she should at least be done talking with him before she actually put her stupid, selfish, plan into action. If he actually wanted her, though…

"How is it you survived?"

For a second she could only stare with her brows furrowed. This question again… He wouldn't have forgotten her answer. No, he… He probably recognized she didn't tell him the whole story, so he asked again. After fighting with Grimmjow, admitting she had lost vision, Ulquiorra had seen the similarities.

"Yeah, I left out some details," she admitted quietly. "Sorry for not telling you. I just… I wasn't really sure what happened myself and not knowing even that much… It's really pathetic and stupid of me. I'd lost sight of you, my vision blacking out just like when I had been fighting Grimmjow the other day. After that, my wound reopened like it hadn't even healed at all. More like the blood had just clotted and suddenly, even without straining it, it opened back up. Then I stumbled in the sand like my sense of balance had been thrown off, or I'd just been distracted by the wound opening or not seeing where you went." Aracelis paused, looking away as she told the rest of what she knew, which was very little. "All during that fight, my spiritual pressure drained unusually fast. I barely made it through the garganta afterwards because I'd been so weak by then. I just… I don't know what caused any of that to happen." She forced out a few laughs, and faked a smile. "I'm useless, aren't I? Can't even control my own body, like you said. Probably should have just died then… I mean, you'd won, and you should have gotten to kill me, like I said I would let you. Instead I…" Instead she just came back and caused him problems. "I'm sorr-"

"I had no intention of killing you, or even injuring you so severely," Ulquiorra cut in before she continued berating herself, causing her eyes to widen at the forthright, unprompted confession. "I believed I had killed you, so I left. Had I known you hadn't been dead, I wouldn't have left you to be eaten by the hollows that gathered around you… I would have finished you off at least."

She actually did giggle a few times at him ruining what would have been an otherwise decent attempt at admitting to liking her even back then. When she made it her goal to get him to admit this, she never expected it would be with her cozied up next to him. Or after he had already admitted to enjoying being around her.

"I'm glad to hear that. I never could figure out if you had meant to kill me, or just left after assuming I had already died. Thought about it a lot, actually. Thank you for telling me. It... It means a lot to me." She briefly considered asking where he had disappeared to by the time she had returned to Hueco Mundo, but she didn't want to make him upset. He seemed reluctant to tell her, so she would just be patient until he felt he could tell her. That wasn't something she needed to push anyway. He was here now. That's what mattered.

"So…" She bit her lip, a little nervous to ask now. If this went how she thought it would, his answer to her question would determine his motive even if he didn't want to. "Were you sleeping? I mean, I've never seen you do that before, so, yeah." In other words, 'why were you lying next to me?' Letting her cuddle up next to him no less.

"The human world is a taxing place, and I decided to rest," he deflected. "I don't see how you spent so much time there. Not when you have a tendency to grow bored so easily."

"I found things to entertain myself with," she answered, even if this isn't the conversation she had been aiming to start. "Sometimes I'd follow around a human I found interesting, just watch what they did all day for a while. Occasionally went to their schools and learned what was going on in the world. If there were any soul reapers around, I would torment them sometimes. Usually chased other hollows towards them, or bring spirits towards them because it was funny to see their reaction to a hollow _not_ eating a poor, defenseless soul. Also read a lot. Stole novels all the time because humans tend to write completely ridiculous things down for entertainment's sake." She shrugged, that an adequate summary of what she had done aside from sitting around, staring into space, and thinking for hours on end. Distractions always helped.

"You know," Aracelis said, leaning forward a bit, "I don't really know why you have a whole bunch of psychology books, but actually observing humans is a lot more telling than reading about the chemicals that cause reactions in the brain. Their motives usually don't make sense in a scientific way, that's why they have so many books on the matter. They can't decide what's correct. It's just not something that can be explained through actions alone, a lot of emotion often going into the matter. Not just facts." And, now she may as well be speaking for herself, just trying to explain what she had seen in relation to her own behavior. If that was what he was trying to figure out, that was about all the help she could give. "If you actually want to make sense of them, you would have to speak with them," she added. That's where she failed. She'd never spoken to a living human- for obvious reasons, like they couldn't even see her. Maybe if she could, she would be able to sort out some of her own damn feelings. They seemed to have a better handle on all this crap.

"I do not see what speaking with them could reveal. If they are unable to explain in text how they _feel_ , why would their words be any different? You are a perfect example of this. You actions and motives, I doubt they coincide perfectly with what you say, nor what you actually think," he said, his voice level, yet challenging her to prove this observation false.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Because she was. She definitely lied about things, or kept from revealing the whole truth. But it's not like he didn't do the same to her.

"Yes."

"And you're not?" She glared at him when he didn't answer. He may as well have admitted it in refusing to answer. "Well, at least you recognize you're just as bad as me."

"You are far worse," he stated blatantly in response. "I can recognize when there is a need. You cannot discriminate between a pointless lie and a necessary one."

"So it's necessary to lie about why you left me sleeping next to you?" He was being ridiculous. She had a better thing to call out, but she didn't want him to prove her wrong if she asked him whether he actually cared about her or not.

"That is not the question you asked."

Her face went blank, unamused. "All right Ulquiorra, that's fair I suppose. Why didn't you move me, then?"

"I wished for quiet. Accidentally waking you would have resulted in this conversation, or in you complaining had I forced you to leave without answering your questions."

"Fine," she growled. He was being difficult purposefully now. For whatever reason, he decided that he wouldn't let her beat around the bush. He wanted a direct question, because he already knew what she actually wanted ask. All of this to prove her the bigger liar. Honestly… "Then, why were you letting me hold onto you? Why are you letting me…?" She glanced at her hand, still on his chest, her fingers gripping at the fabric with her irritation towards him.

"I had been curious."

She nearly smacked herself in the forehead. "No shit, I got that much figured out. You're being a jerk, Ulquiorra. I get it. I'm a liar, okay? I don't always say what I mean, or what I think." After hopefully waiting for him to stop this stupid, frustrating game he decided to play, she gave an exasperated sigh. She didn't finish the second question, so he gave her a half-assed answer. What the hell made this so important to him? Couldn't he just assume what she wanted like he had been? Why did he suddenly want her to be so damn direct with what she wanted? Just as she opened her mouth to ask what he had been curious about, he spoke.

"You may leave now that you are awake."

At that, she narrowed her eyes and scowled at his expressionless face with building aggravation. He wanted to play? Oh, she would. Just not by his rules. "Fine," she said with a bitter tone and a very forced grin. "I'll leave."

She gave him no opportunity to move away, a firm hold on his shirt as she rose to her knees and moved to straddle his waist. Despite her face feeling scorching hot, Aracelis kept glaring at him. Ulquiorra managed to keep a blank face, but his eyes couldn't hide his surprise, his pupils constricted to tiny slits. His breath even seemed unsteady for a few seconds as she stared him down. She quickly got distracted from her petty goal of making him uncomfortable for frustrating her, instead raising her right hand, leaning forward as she loosened her left hand's grip on the fabric of his shirt to splay her fingers out. Her fingers barely brushed across his cheek as she followed his jawline. She didn't get to see him so close up often. He really was striking with his perfectly smooth white skin that seemed to glow in the dim lighting, the way his dark hair contrasted with his paleness. And his eyes... Often the only clues to what he thought came from them.

Right now, she couldn't read them. His green eyes just stared into hers with such an intensity she finally had to break eye contact before she ended up leaning forward to do something more foolish than she already was. Instead she looked to her hand as she trailed her fingers from his face and down, running them along his neck until she got to the hole in his chest. If either of them had a heart… Hers would have been racing, and his… She could only hope his would have done the same. Her fingers left his chest only so she could skip over his hollow hole, reconnecting below. Even under the fabric of his shirt, she could feel the muscle structure, and chose to follow it downward to his abs.

He jerked so suddenly she almost fell backward, his hand catching hers in a near crushing grip that kept her from actually falling. Her eyes shot to his face in search of what she'd done to make him upset, other than the obvious personal space invasion. His pupils were fully dilated, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, voice low.

"N-nothing," Aracelis stuttered, eyes darting to the side. "Nothing, I was just… I wasn't thinking…"

He dropped her hand, all but shoving her off of him as he got off the bed. Ulquiorra walked to the other side of the room to the window, his jaw clenched tightly and an obvious glare visible on his face before he turned away. "Then I suggest you be more conscious of your own actions," he warned, eyes not glancing at her. "Actions have consequences, Aracelis. You cannot pretend to not know what you are doing when you decide you've made a mistake."

"I…" She couldn't think of anything to say, too upset with… with herself mostly. She knew this was a stupid idea, and she took it too far. She'd angered him. Again. He was right, actions had consequences, and she seemed to forget that she could still make him hate her with her annoying behavior even if he had said he liked having her around. She'd overstepped his boundaries. He had every right to angry. In defeat, she stood up, dragging her feet as she walked to the door. Over her shoulder, she guilty began, "I'm sor-"

"Don't apologize," he interrupted. "Just leave me."

"O-okay." Even if she tried to hide it, her voice wavered a bit.

She quickly opened the door, intent on leaving before she made more of a fool out of herself. Especially because she heard him walking again. Before she took more than two steps, he grabbed her wrist to stop her, his hand unusually warm at that moment. He released his hold once he had her attention. When she went to turn around, he placed a hand onto her shoulder to prevent her.

After a prolonged silence, she felt something brush her fingers. Glancing down she saw it was her stupid sword she'd managed to forget about again. She wordlessly accepted it, slipping it back into her sash, ready to run away now. The only reason she hesitated was he didn't let go of her shoulder immediately upon handing her sword to her. If she didn't know better, she might have considered it as him trying to comfort her, which only severed to confuse her more. When he did drop his hand back to his side, she walked forward, gently closing the door behind her without looking back.

Before she even made it down the hallway to complete her solemn walk back to her room, she was interrupted.

 _That. Was. Disgusting._ Instinct began, voice filled with even more loathing than usual. _Don't you ever do that again! Throwing yourself at him like that…_ It dramatically added in a gagging noise. _That was the_ _ **single**_ _most disgusting thing I've ever been forced to watch. Never again, or I swear…_

"Screw you," she hissed under her breath. She had been enjoying herself before he got mad. If he let her, she'd do it again. Like she'd listen to the stupid voice when it came to something like this. She'd sleep with whomever she wanted whether her instinct agreed with her or not.

 _Whore._

Aracelis froze, biting her lip, fists clenched so tightly her nails dug into the palms uncomfortably. The voice didn't even sound the same as her again, like a male had said it. A vaguely familiar one that she couldn't quite place. The word echoed around in her head like a bad memory.

"Shut the hell up," she snapped even with the odd feeling of déjà vu she had at the voice. "I'll do whatever the hell I want, whether you like it or not. Because you know what, this is my damn body and I control it. Not you. You're just some irritating survival instinct that has long outlived its purpose."

She could remember instances in the past when she listened to the damn voice guide her. Do this. Kill that. Go there. Run from that. Especially when she had been trapped in a Guillian mass of hundreds of hollows, fighting for control over their collective body to evolve into an Adjucha. The voice amidst all the screeching. 'Do this, and we'll have control of this body again. You'll evolve. I'll survive. All you need to do is listen to what I say. Then we'll be powerful. You won't be afraid of dying, of being eaten. Just listen. Follow my instructions like you always have.' It'd been helpful then. Only then. After becoming a Vasto Lorde, it grew annoying. She no longer needed it. She could reason for herself.

"Now you're just in the way."

 _Stupid girl. You can't just get rid of me. It doesn't work like that._

"Then I'll just ignore you."

 _Ignore me? I don't think you-_

She blocked the voice's ranting out as best she could, concentrating on walking back to her room. If she needed something more distracting, she could just think about how badly she screwed up with Ulquiorra. Wallowing in self-pity and regret would drown out the voice well enough. Or fighting maybe, since she was quite frustrated with herself and Ulquiorra…

* * *

 **A/N- And I made things tenser, I believe. Aracelis let her anger get the better of her again and did something rash (just not attempted murder this time). Ulquiorra's being his usual confusing/confused self, but more on that later, trust me. At least he confessed he hadn't meant to kill her, because he certainly thinks about that a lot, huh? Alarico the unwilling voyeur is revolted at this latest development too. And Clematis is plotting something. That's all I got.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you EdwardElricx101 and He4artBreaker101 for following and/or favoriting! I'm actually really surprised at how many favorites and follows this has gotten; it's surpassed my first story and I'm really happy! So thank to everyone who's favorited or followed already too!**

 **haipa-chan** **\- …Yeah, I totally agree with it being odd that Ulquiorra can recognize physical attraction; to be honest, I had some stuff planned last chapter that included some descriptions of such feelings, but I chickened out. Hopefully I can remedy it with this chapter and the next. You definitely got me thinking, though, and I had some good ideas! :) So thanks! This is why reviewers like you are so helpful, because you certainly pointed out something that I brushed over and got me thinking! And I'm glad Ulquiorra's character development is working, because, well, much of canon** _ **is**_ **during battle with enemies and prisoners like you mentioned, so interacting with Aracelis can show a different side of him. As for upcoming interactions with Orihime and Ichigo, I know for sure that I'll at least be giving more of Ulquiorra's thoughts because I can use his POV where the anime just had actions and words. Adding a few things too, of course. Not here to summarize canon after all. Also glad you liked the little part about Aracelis playing around in schools! Thank you so much for the long review! You sparked some really good ideas indeed!**

 **The Shy Scorpio-** **Aww, thank you so much! That's such a compliment for a writer, being told your story telling is good (let alone superb!) so thank you again! :) Glad I caught ya off guard with him laying down next to her too, cuz that definitely says something about how he feels doesn't it? At least I've managed to give you the general impression that he** _ **at least**_ **subconsciously loves her, because, well, that's pretty important in a romance! He** _ **really**_ **is struggling with this situation. Oh, and I'm glad that the scene with Yammy was at least entertaining because I did just add a few things to the original episode (and repeating things without adding to them… Sounds like allota work for nothing). And those name puns would usually be forever a secret and go unnoticed, but I just really wanted to point them out for once (especially since you seemed to enjoy them). Kubo used some weird spellings of famous people for Arrancar/Espada names (Ulquiorra's is like an architect or something if I'm remembering correctly) so I did puns for mine to differentiate them a bit. So, yep, thank you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy the coming chapters as well!**

 ****Maybe I'll stop being lazy and upload a drawing of Aracelis… I do have a decent one of her as a Vasto Lorde (in pencil), but I'd have to take a photo of it and upload it to deviantart, and I'm really lazy about things like this. Probably could upload some sketches of Ellzea and Clematis too if I get motivated… If I actually get it done (which I might, since I typed this and will feel more obligated to do so), I'll say so in the next chapter and on my profile (name on DA is AwkwardBlackCat, use it for OC pics only really).****


	22. Chapter 22- Longing

Aracelis dodged another round of energy attacks sent at her by Aisslinger, immediately jumping back as Demoura's fist swung for her. She had been training with the two above the outskirts of the underground sections of the palace for about an hour. Initially, Ulquiorra had followed her only to make sure she hadn't made some half-witted plan to escape Las Noches after being pent up in her room following their… Their encounter. Instead he found that she had left the palace to play in the sand with the two weaker Arrancar, most likely out of frustration towards him. He stayed for two reasons: the logical reason to see if she had improved her fighting capabilities any and the irrational reason of enjoying watching her fight, as in the way her body moved.

The first ten minutes of the training session had been poorly aimed ceros paired with quite an amount of cursing, none of which had been directed at the perplexed looking Aisslinger. After the sand was left gouged and a visit from Runuganga to see what the commotion was about, she actually went to fighting the two Arrancar and not her emotions. She then began to use her ability to absorb spiritual pressure in a way he hadn't seen before. Instead of siphoning in the energy completely, she began leaving traces behind to masquerade as someone else. A useful tactic in a battle with multiple enemies, but also more of a one-time trick. Anything with a bit of common sense would be able to see through the trick after one use. Aisslinger caught onto the ruse immediately and began confirming it was her and not Demoura before firing off attacks. Demoura, however, didn't. Every time the large Arrancar nearly smacked Aisslinger out of the air, Aracelis would fall into a fit of laughter -Ulquiorra found her amusement at something so simple entertaining. Following this, the battle had become one of evasion, Aracelis more focused on antagonizing the two than an actual attempt at training.

He really should have left at that point. Standing there, watching his idiot childishly tease others, there was no point in it. Staying because he liked the way she looked as she bounced about the battlefield with a wild grin, having fun with her antics… Surely he could have found something better to do with his time than _this_. Yet here he stood, a distance away from the trio with his spiritual pressure restrained like he wasn't allowed to be there, glaring at the cause of his frustrations while thinking. In one conversation she had managed to get on nerves that he didn't even know he had- like most everything else she did to him. Disturbingly, he wasn't very angry per say, just generally vexed with the situation. All beginning with him asking for her to confirm what had happened during that battle so long ago…

She tried apologizing. She was going to apologize to himfor not dying. He could understand if she wished to apologize for not telling him the circumstances of why the battle concluded the way it did; she did not want to appear weak because of what she perceived as a failing of her ability. That was acceptable. But for not dying? He could not understand why she would have felt guilty for surviving to the point he blatantly told her that he had no intention of killing her back then just to get her to stop asking his forgiveness over something so... So absurd. He didn't have a word to describe the emotion that accompanied his reaction to her words either.

He… He never wanted her to die in that battle. He didn't even consider that as a possibility. It had just been an opportunity to test his ability because he knew she wouldn't kill him even though he had been in such a pathetic state, not able to sense anything, only see and slightly perceive spiritual pressure. Aracelis's injuries, they were his fault. He tried to blame the entire event on her afterwards, but the blame was his and that damn parasite's. He could see that now. By the time he was in the tree, he resented her because he blamed her for what happened, for challenging him and being weak enough to die. And then, when she suddenly stood before him in Las Noches, he hated her for being alive after disappearing for so long and reappearing and acting as though she hadn't been gone, as well as the fact that one look at her and decades of control and indifference had crumbled away. Because Aracelis, she had always made him _feel_. Even as a Vasto Lorde, deprived of physical sensory, she managed to make him feel warmth, and, in the end, unbelievable pain. Her power over him… It made him weak. So damn weak. Clematis was right in saying as much; Aracelis was his weakness.

This, all of this, hadn't been the worst thing to come out of that conversation either. Admittedly, he hadn't helped matters, challenging her to purposefully upset her into demanding answers from him. He had decided that coyness was a trait he found irritating. Particularly when there was a disconnect between her words and actions because of it.

That is why he called her a liar. He knew she would react to it. Her actions. Her behavior towards him. They made it so obvious that she wanted him, yet she continually hesitated because she suddenly became shy. Her being flustered, Ulquiorra didn't mind that, but when she backed down completely from voicing her desires out of fear- fear of him of all things-, he didn't like it. It wasn't her. That wasn't how Aracelis acted. The arrogant, unapologetic woman that demanded her way, somehow liking him made her change her behavior to being meek and submissive. From all the nonsense he read about human behavior, he was beginning to think that she had suffered something in her past to cause this. Her _human_ past. Whatever it was, it had been ingrained into her personality, reappearing as soon as she found herself wanting to be in a ridiculous human relationship. They were _hollows_. She didn't need whatever had been instilled in her as a human. He wanted her to act as her hollow self.

Which is why he tried to get her to say it. Aracelis, she had wanted to ask why he had been allowing her to sleep beside him and touch him in such a manner, but she wouldn't voice it. So he did what so frustrated him. He used avoidance to demonstrate how irritating it was. He had refused to answer something his actions had already made clear; he obviously was allowing her to touch him because he found some pleasure in it. That's why he never got up, even though she had slept an hour after he had initially laid down next to her. At first he had just been curious about how it would feel, then somewhat uncomfortable as she unconsciously added more contact, but eventually he found he enjoyed her body pressed to his. He had been enjoying the feel of her hand on his chest. So much so he accommodated her by wrapping his arm around her shoulders, allowing her to press her face into his chest as well. At one point she had his leg between her thighs as she pulled herself almost onto him and he didn't move her because the found the feeling pleasurable. She knew why he left her alone. He would have moved her had he not been enjoying her. He just wanted to hear her ask him if he had allowed her to stay for the explicit reason of desiring her physically.

And somehow the woman managed to surprise him. Ulquiorra never expected for her to suddenly be as bold as to crawl on top of him, straddling his waist, nearly sitting in his lap. What began as anger -and likely a petty attempt to get back at him for challenging her- her expression had changed. Her deep set frown faded away, her eyes than half-lidded as she began ever so lightly tracing along his jaw. She had leaned forward, her lips parted. He should have given in and closed the distance instead of sitting back, mesmerized by her. By then he already noticed his breathing had become uneven, and his body felt warm.

When their eyes met, though, she backed down, instead trailing her hand down his throat, her skin on fire as well… Then he caught sight of her chest, her shirt disheveled from her nap, the tops of her breasts more exposed than usual… Her hand traveled below his ribcage to his stomach, continuing…

With the thought in mind again, he took his hand from his pocket to fiddle with the collar of his shirt, it suddenly constricting and too warm. In that moment, with her so brazenly exploring, he had lost control of his own body. The second his blood flow rerouted from his head downward, he… He overreacted. He grabbed her hand, nearly making her fall in the process, because his body's response was something very foreign and sudden. His own reaction startled him. She had him dancing around in the palm of her hand, control on his mind and body, and he hated it, yet at the same time, he wanted her. Had she answered what she had been doing truthfully, he would have pulled her onto him and happily continued what she started.

Yet again, she backed down, pretending she didn't know what she had been doing. That it had been a mistake. Actions had consequences. If she decided to act rashly, she would not be able to pretend as though it never happened, that she had no idea what she had been doing. So he pushed her off and told her to leave. He wouldn't continue with her saying what she had done was nothing.

Of course, after rejecting her advances she got a dejected look and tried to apologize again with her voice quivering like she were on the verge of tears. He managed to get her sword off of the desk and grab her wrist to stop her from leaving all before he actually noticed _why._ He had created an excuse to comfort her. She was upset, and he wanted to make her feel better. Absolutely pathetic, yet that had been his sole reason in returning her sword then instead of later because she undoubtedly didn't notice she was leaving it. Resting his hand on her shoulder just to try to get rid of that abysmal look on her face… How far he had fallen.

This entire situation was unnecessary, but he continued to think about it hours afterwards. He'd felt far too many strange _emotions_ in one interaction that now he could only repeat the scene again and again to attempt to figure them all out- which proved more difficult than he cared to admit, especially because this was something _human_ again. All of what happened was trivial, or at least it should be, because it had absolutely nothing to do with the war.

Aracelis was frustrating in so many ways. Wanting to sleep with her was just another item on the growing list of irritating things the woman caused him. Because he did. He wanted her bare body beneath him, her moaning his name as he pleasured her. The only thing stopping him- other than it being a waste of time and a rather pointless activity that achieved at most a short period of carnal pleasure- was Aracelis herself. Not only with her infuriating coyness, but the fact that the act would inevitably mean something more to her. She would take it as him giving into her bizarre fantasy of having a human relationship with him, and as a show of affection. He didn't _care_ for her. He didn't want to give her the impression that he did either, because she would be upset when she found out otherwise. Sure, he wanted her to hate him so she would forget about this delusion of hers, but that despairing expression of hers whenever she felt rejected made him hesitant to the point that it would be a last resort to be used in pure desperation. And he was far from a desperate man.

He returned his attention back to her in attempt to quiet his thoughts and just watch. He wasn't very successful. The last time he had been so aggravated with her was after bringing back the Adjuchas. Ignoring her and avoiding her hadn't helped then, so he doubted it would now. What alleviated some of the frustration last time had been tossing her around while training her. Her shouting obscenities at him while trying to destroy him with ceros and balas was highly distracting - and as a bonus she acted normal when enraged with him while play-fighting. He would just steal her away from the weaker Arrancar then.

Ulquiorra took one step forward before his day suddenly became worse. He continued walking, his face completely devoid of an expression. Damn Grimmjow. That idiot would choose now to leave Las Noches and undermine his and more importantly, Aizen's authority. Just how much trouble the fool would create became his main concern. He would go chasing after him, bring him back immediately to face judgement, but the cat, if he didn't catch him while doing something incredibly stupid, Aizen would likely ignore the action. Of course the idea of simply killing Grimmjow was tempting considering how disrespectful an act this was towards Aizen- and that he attempted to kill Aracelis-, but eliminating one of the Espada now, when they had initialized Aizen's plans, wasn't his decision to make either. No, he would have to see what rash stunt the Sixth had planned before taking action.

At least Aracelis would be entertained with what he had in mind.

* * *

Aracelis used sonido to get underneath Demoura's jaw, springing up to kick his chin hard enough that the large Arrancar stumbled back in the sand. She moved a distance away as the rather dim-witted hollow screamed in complaint- at least he didn't try to hit her with his deformed tongue again, as that had been absolutely disgusting. She looked to Aisslinger, whom had already brought down his four arm-like appendages in armistice.

"Looks like the fun's over," she yelled to him, nodding her head to dismiss them. While they didn't outright defer to her every order, they respected her rank enough to at least confirm she was done with them for the day. Aisslinger seemed eager to leave once he noticed a certain Espada approaching; perhaps threatening to bring down the entrance they guarded if they didn't go outside and spar with her had been bit much. Not that she regretted it, because that certainly got the two to out, even if they weren't exactly supposed to leave Las Noches. He probably thought that Ulquiorra came to reprimand them. Especially because of the scary look Ulquiorra wore, his expression blank and emerald eyes stone-cold. He seemed more irritated than earlier, actually. Hopefully that look wasn't aimed at her…

As soon as her two sparring partners fled the scene, she used sonido to close the gap between her and Ulquiorra, stopping a few feet away. She crossed her arms over her chest and waited. She didn't know how to greet him considering he might be there to kill her for her stupidity earlier.

After a moment of silence, he saw that she was not going to acknowledge him any further, and began, "I wish for you to follow after the Sixth and his Fracción. Find out what they have planned, then return. Don't be seen."

"What do…?" She trailed off, using pesquisa, noticing that Grimmjow was nowhere to be found. "Did… Did he actually go to the human world?" Seriously, did that pack have a death wish? No wonder Ulquiorra looked pissed off. "You want me to follow them!?" she nearly shouted once that part of the order sunk in. "To the human world?"

"Yes."

So blunt. "Okay," Aracelis accepted despite dragging out the word in suspicion. "Wouldn't the soul reapers notice a high ranked Arrancar going through a garganta?" She managed to learn that they had a way to detect hollows as soon as they left the garganta. Even if she hid her spiritual pressure, they might detect _something_ suspicious passing through, right? Send some after her too? That was why Aizen didn't allow them to go to the human world willy-nilly.

"Are you worried you will not be able to fend for yourself?"

"No! No, it's just that's why we're not supposed to leave Las Noches. But you're ordering me, so I doubt I would be the one in trouble should that be the case. That was a stupid question." She rolled her eyes at herself. The order just caught her off guard. She could see the necessity of sending her, though, now that she thought about it. Grimmjow would be hyper aware of Ulquiorra, or any of the Espada, following after him.

"All right," she nodded, now serious. "Damaged-mask hasn't left yet. I'll follow after him." The fool wouldn't notice her; he'd be too caught up on wanting to fight if she had to wager a guess. She walked past Ulquiorra, on the way back into Las Noches to find her guide to Karakura. It had been an order from her superior officer. If he was angry at her for crawling onto him, disobeying an order like this, he'd actually punish her for it. Severely too. Couldn't make a mockery of Aizen's wishes after all.

Soon she caught up to the silvery-haired hollow who had chosen a deserted corner of the palace to open a garganta in. From the scattered locations of where the others left, she assumed they had a carefully crafted escape plan so they wouldn't be noticed right away. She bet the guy with the black, braided hair had planned it- he seemed the brains of the group, as well as second in command. Actually, he was probably the tall spindly hollow with long boney fingers she'd seen when she first met the panther. Creepy hollow then, just as creepy now.

As soon as the damaged-masked Arrancar ripped open a garganta and sped into the dark void, she used sonido to slip in before it closed completely. Silently and at a distance she followed after him, actually feeling nostalgic about being in the black precipice between worlds. She was actually getting to go back to the human world… If she wanted, she could just run off, right? If Ulquiorra was confident enough that she wouldn't get caught by the Espada that literally wanted her guts spilled across the ground, then she could avoid all of them, right? Just go hid in some far flung corner of the world of the living… Somewhere even Ulquiorra wouldn't find her if he came after her… This would be a good chance to escape from Las Noches, from Aizen, before all hell broke loose with the upcoming war.

After a second of considering it, she shook her head. She wouldn't leave Ulquiorra behind. Not when he was so stubbornly invested in Aizen's scheme. He'd die for the prick if she allowed it. And she wouldn't. She would stay in Las Noches to at least try to convince him this war wasn't something worth dying for. Even if he hated her after what she did earlier, she wouldn't leave him to die. It had been a miracle that she found him alive when she arrived. She wouldn't squander a second chance because he didn't like her the way she did him. As long as he were alive, she'd be happy. If that meant she had to stay in Las Noches, then so be it. She wouldn't abandon him. Terrifyingly, if in order to protect him she had to die, she would without a second thought. He meant that much to her…

She left her thoughts at that when four other Arrancar somehow managed to find their way to the damaged-masked one in front of her. Because of the rather chaotic nature of the reishi, she would be well hidden as long as they didn't actually see her. She doubted they expected someone to follow through the same garganta they left from. Being vigilant of where the Arrancar looked would keep her safe from discovery. Dodging stares would be easy as long as they didn't stay in the garganta for too long.

The braided man opened a rather large garganta to spit them out into the human world, the sky darkened with night. She used sonido to slip past the other Arrancar before they noticed her, landing on the roof of a building far below, careful not to cause an otherwise unnecessary commotion. She had the speed advantage over them still, thankfully, so she was sure they didn't notice her. The garganta closed with the group waiting on the other side, hiding there. They would likely periodically open it until Grimmjow arrived to command them. Immediately she went to using pesquisa to find Grimmjow, also putting a bit of distance between them while she could. She picked out several other spiritual pressures. Ulquiorra didn't mention there being so many soul reapers. She picked out ten. Not regular ones, either. Captains and seated officers at the least. Only one seemed to be the trash she regularly fought before this war. Ulquiorra and Yammy must have scared the Soul Society into sending reinforcements, then. Otherwise the soul reapers just decided to throw a party because she had never known so many powerful soul reapers to gather in a single town. She also sensed what had to be the odd humans. Quite a gaggle of them too, although some's presences were fainter than others.

She stopped running, making sure she had hidden her spiritual pressure completely. Grimmjow joined his group far above her and the city, keeping out of sight as they plotted their next move. Like the pack of hunters they were, they all went to using pesquisa to locate their targets. Lucky for her, they had their spiritual pressure restrained and the human world remained stifling with a lack of reishi. Otherwise they may have noticed a distortion of energy near her and come to investigate. Right now, though, she may as well have not existed- no wonder she was never hunted down by soul reapers when she had been there. After they concluded their search, Grimmjow had the group scatter to hunt down their prey, spiritual pressures flared to the max to frenzy the targets- she wished she could have heard the actual order, but getting _that_ close would have been too risky.

Once she was sure Grimmjow wasn't looking in the same direction, she moved to catch up with damaged-mask again to see what the panther told him to do. Well, confirm what she expected he ordered. Knowing the cat, he probably said kill everything. Such an idiot. What did he think this would prove? Ulquiorra had been in charge of deciding the fates of these humans and soul reapers. Going against that was suicidal. And to include all of his underlings like this... His rash, arrogant, little warriors would get severely injured, or killed, by these powerful soul reapers, all because he didn't like Ulquiorra's methods. This sort of made Grimmjow a bad leader, especially because his motive was all driven by his ego.

Unfortunately, the idiot she followed headed towards what had to be one of the strange, gifted humans. She had been hoping for a soul reaper… The human seemed too weak to actually put up an entertaining fight. Aracelis chose a roof to perch on, close enough to hear the conversation if they had one, figuring that both of them would be too inept to notice her. The human- a tall male, well-muscled, dark-skinned, and an odd red-black arm almost resembling a hollow's- rounded a corner a few feet away from damaged-mask. The Arrancar, despite it being very obvious beforehand, expressed his disappointment in it not being a soul reaper. They must have gone after spiritual pressures at random, then.

She should have left then, knowing that anything at all would be targeted enough information on their _plan_ –if you could call such a simple thing a plan- but she lingered to watch how this battle played out. Two soul reapers rocketed towards the area just as the hollow ran forward to impale the human on his arm.

His hand was stopped by a soul reaper. This soul reaper had an interesting appearance with his bright orange hair, a ridiculously large sword in hand- seemed to already be in its shikai form if she had to guess-, and bandages wrapped around his head, likely from Ulquiorra's and Yammy's visit. Even though the young man was injured, he sent his friend away, confident he would defeat the Arrancar before him. Or false bravado just to get his friend to leave in order to protect him. Above all, though, this soul reaper appeared rather strong. That fact combined with how he so casually spoke to the human- apparently his name was Ichigo, as his friend called him… Was he the kid that Ulquiorra mentioned them being after? The one that managed to cut off Yammy's arm? Oh, like she could just leave now without watching the little human Aizen was so interested in. Hopefully Ulquiorra wouldn't be too upset with her staying to observe a few moments more…

Aracelis nearly lost her mind when another person arrived, a black-haired soul reaper with a petite frame, because the two of them just kept talking like there wasn't an enemy standing in front of them. Just… What the hell!? The girl, Rukia the other soul reaper called her, just showed up and started to make a point that the other friend was upset at being told to leave! In the middle of a battle! Humans and soul reapers… This was hardly the time to be discussing something like that. Then the girl ate some sort of candy looking thing and popped out of what Aracelis guessed was some sort of fake body? Their conversation went completely over her head. Honestly, this was just too weird, even for her. Must have stunned the other Arrancar too because, as impatient as he seemed, he stood there for quite a time before finally interrupting the bizarre scene. And he introduced himself- Di Roy was his name, apparently. She like damaged-mask better, though… Summed up his appearance and reckless nature better than his actual name.

She watched as the soul reaper used her zanpakuto to freeze Di Roy in a few seconds flat. So much for learning his name two seconds before he went and _died_. Aracelis knew the guy was an idiot, but that was just sad, dying so quickly.

Aracelis jerked her head in the opposite direction of the soul reapers, sensing that Grimmjow was heading their way. She wouldn't be sticking around for that. Not when he was flaring his spiritual pressure like a madman. He wanted blood. In a second, those soul reapers were in for a rude awakening. Di Roy, he was weak, but the rest were on another level. _She_ could probably fight the woman actually. The boy may have injured Yammy, but he didn't seem like much of a threat considering Yammy was low ranked. They stood no chance against an Espada like Grimmjow. No wonder Ulquiorra decided they weren't worth the effort.

She tore open a garganta. Before stepping though, she considered revealing her presence just to tease Grimmjow, but recognized it as a bad idea. Better to leave them assuming they had made it out of Las Noches unnoticed; when someone came to punish them, it would make it more of an unpleasant surprise for them. She wished she could see the look on Grimmjow's face when he inevitably gets caught. Instead she walked through to return to Las Noches. When the exit opened up, Aracelis stood near the five central pillars. Ulquiorra was waiting for her, hands in his pockets as always, so she almost congratulated herself on correctly guessing where to meet up with him upon her return- something he neglected to tell her. Unless he considered her smart enough to figure it out for herself.

"He ordered them to kill anything with any trace of spiritual pressure," she began as soon as she was a comfortable few feet away. "The Soul Society called in reinforcements. As best I could tell, they were nine seated officers and stronger. Not sure how many had been there to start though. Di Roy was already killed by one of them. When I left, Grimmjow was going after that soul reaper, a woman, and an _Ichigo_."

Ulquiorra gave a slight tip of his head in acknowledgement before continuing to walk by her and towards the entrance of one of the towers. When she trailed behind him, he said, "You are dismissed. I will inform Tousen or Ichimaru and see what action they wish to take."

"If they don't already know…" she muttered. She'd seen where Aisslinger monitored the entrance… Las Noches was actually a bigger cage than she had initially imagined. Wherever they got the technology from, it had to be placed throughout the palace to be used at the soul reapers' discretion. She doubted all six of them avoided detection when they left because of the high security. Hell, someone probably noticed her leave…

"That is likely," Ulquiorra answered. "If I am given permission, I would prefer dragging back Grimmjow for his insubordination myself."

At his honestly, Aracelis raised an eyebrow. From the cold tone he used she knew the cat had pissed Ulquiorra off to the point _he_ wanted to be the one to punish him. "Why?" He just seemed so unusually serious about this. What had Grimmjow done to make him _this_ irritated? Usually only she managed to get this reaction out of him…

"The decision of what to do with that soul reaper had been mine to make, as Lord Aizen willed. By doing this, Grimmjow has undermined Lord Aizen's authority." His response, while making sense, made Aracelis look to the ground to hide her disappointment. All of this because it had been a slight against Aizen… She fell a few steps further behind, but she heard him quietly, but darkly add, "He also tried to kill you."

Aracelis froze in place, staring after his coattails as he continued walking away like he hadn't said anything. Was… Was that really why he was so irritated with Grimmjow? Actually, it was probably a mix of the two, Aizen still more important than her, but… If even a bit of that anger stemmed from Grimmjow trying to kill her… She couldn't believe she just heard him say that. For him, saying that, it was almost like admitting he cared about her. That he was protective of her. He'd been serious about being the only one that got the privilege of killing her. To the degree that he would seek retribution after the event instead of dropping the subject as unimportant.

How pathetic was she? He had waited to save her until the last possible minute, yet him acting for one second like he had actually cared –that he held a grudge against Grimmjow for it- and she was stunned into smiling like an idiot. At the same time, though, he was being a bit more honest with her in a way. Telling her he never had intended to kill her in the past, and that he was upset with Grimmjow and both reasons why, he wouldn't have shared that when she came to Las Noches. He appeared to trust her more now, too. Allowing her to go all the way to the human world by herself on a mission with some actual importance without a lecture filled with warnings and threats beforehand. Just go find out their plan without being noticed, then come back. He'd even let her ask a few questions without getting angry with her for wasting time when time most certainly was an important factor in this mission.

And now she was celebrating tiny little improvements… She really needed to stop this before she got her _feelings_ hurt. She probably was reading too much into insignificant things. It would help if he actually told her things instead of assuming she had a full understanding of the implications one or two specific words held. Forget his damn actions too, she couldn't tell what the hell he wanted because he seemed to change his mind so quickly recently. She… She really thought that he had been enjoying her touching him, but apparently he hadn't because he got upset with her- but she did go a bit far... He didn't mind when she invited him into the damn shower with her, but, of course, he _had_ said no to the offer…

Aracelis let out a long sigh, turning around to walk back to her room to think this over. Standing around in the open, lost in thought, wasn't a particularly bright idea. She had no idea what he wanted from her anymore, though, and it bothered her so much. Obviously she had moved past being _solely_ his subordinate, but did he want her as a friend or… Or what? She didn't really consider what they would be if they actually did start sleeping together. Humans had way too many relationship types… She could hardly begin to sort through all of the terms humans threw around to describe partnerships, romantic and otherwise. It'd help if he actually communicated with her too. Instead he left her to guess what the hell was going on in his head. His reactions and expressions, even if she could catch the tiny little changes, it didn't mean she fully understood them one hundred percent of the time. For someone usually so unbelievably blunt to the point of being outright rude, he managed to confuse her with the constant shifts in what he appeared to want when it came to her.

Too bad there wasn't anyone she really wanted to discuss this stuff with. Might help her sort through all these weird thoughts if she had someone to talk to. Someone with some damn insight in such matters. That wouldn't judge her. Instead she was surrounded by other hollows that, you know, acted like hollows. If only she were so lucky…

"Hello!"

The sound made Aracelis come to a halt, stomping her foot into the sand before snapping her head in the nauseatingly familiar voice's direction. A distance away Clematis stood waving happily to her, grin on her face as usual. All Aracelis could do for a few seconds is give a pained look. She shouldn't have even thought of the word 'luck' because the universe immediately decided to screw her over and send the annoying weed her way. At least the stupid plant was alone. What the hell had she done to deserve this attention anyway? Seriously, the plant's obsession with them made no sense. Whatever the case, Aracelis reluctantly prepared to deal with the giggling hollow intent on chatting.

* * *

 **A/N- ****I posted some drawings on Deviantart! AwkwardBlackCat is my user name there, so just search that if you wish to see them! I actually tried some ink and watercolor instead of just pencil, so color! I just stuck with Aracelis, Clematis, and Ellzea for now. Might add others later. Also included a pencil drawing of Aracelis as a Vasto Lorde, which is fairly similar to what her resurrección would look like (added differences in the pic's description)! Also made a journal entry with some fun facts I haven't had a chance to mention on here!******

 **This chapter –I hope- showed that Ulquiorra has changed how he views Aracelis, even though for him it's not something he quite notices. Like that he is protective of her, is bothered when she is sad, taken to referring to her as 'his,' and how he doesn't want to hurt her feelings. Also a lot of confliction in his thoughts because he wants to hold onto his ideals (that he's lived by for** _ **decades**_ **) but is changing and making him feel like he has no control of the situation, so he's very frustrated- in more ways than one. And Aracelis is just as confused and frustrated because of what he's doing, although she doesn't know what she wants from him either… Just that she cares a lot about him to the point she wouldn't even take the opportunity to escape. They're a mess as usual. And now Clematis is there for a 'chat.' I, ah, hope this still falls into the realm of rated T, because, ah, this is admittedly the most sexual thing I've typed… ever. And, well, I hope it went okay, too…**

 **And on another note, I guess Aisslinger's name is Iceringer in the sub? I was re-watching those episodes in subs and noticed it didn't match what I looked up on the wiki. Sorry if that confused anyone; I've watched both sub and dub to the point I no longer know what's going on with spellings because apparently the Arrancar names just** _ **had**_ **to be different when dubbed (that really bothers me because I watched the subbed version first for these eps; its needlessly confusing). I'm going to stick with Aisslinger, but thought I should mention cuz they look very different when spelled out and he is a rather forgettable minor character.**

 **Thank you to thestormwriter123, that-crafty-otaku, and desiredbe for following and/or favoriting! Thank you to anyone reading as well!**

 **thestormwriter123 \- Hello and thank you! I'm glad you like the story! And there really **_**aren't**_ **a lot of oc centric stories with Ulquiorra. I sort started this because I couldn't find many new things to read that caught my interest with an oc pairing like this… Decided to contribute as best I could. And Orihime, I'm getting excited to get to that point because she could be so helpful indeed! Thank you again for reviewing, following, and favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan \- Ah, yes, my character descriptions tend to be quite 'meh,' hence my mediocre drawing abilities are tested! (Actually, they aren't too bad for once). Glad you're excited to see them at least! Oh how Aracelis did consider kissing him, she just got a little too nervous. Hope Ulquiorra's reaction to this was all right (I didn't chicken out this time), he definitely skipped the cutesy affection and went straight to the business of wanting to sleep with her- while simultaneously being very annoyed by that fact. I do hope that I solved some of that –how does he know he's physically attracted to her- question now with describing his reactions (mental and physical) to what had happened last chapter. Otherwise, I just imagine that had the other Arrancar been up to some shenanigans in Las Noches, they wouldn't have kept it a private affair- and anyone unfortunate enough to walk by got an unwanted show. And, well, he does read a lot of books and the topic of sex seems fairly prevalent in psychology, so, yeah. Your question actually gave me the idea for Aracelis crawling onto him and his resulting reaction this chapter- and a few other things for later. Definitely ended up better than my original plans for these chapters! So, yeah, you didn't offend at all because it had been a very valid point that I missed! Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this update as well!**

 **Lunar Loon \- Yeah, the parasite certainly doesn't understand why she's so obsessed with Ulquiorra and his approval, let alone wanting to crawl into bed with him- but hey, the parasite's third wheeling and that **_**is**_ **pretty awkward. He's certainly never helped matters and is quite awful, though- happy to see I've elicited some hate on him, because, well, he's an ass. Thanks for reviewing again! Happy you're still reading!**


	23. Chapter 23- Catalyst

" _Do you understand? This is quite dangerous! He has no qualms in killing the weak, even if they haven't given him reason. He is an animal when compared to Ulquiorra. Which is why he will be a perfect pawn! He won't see this as manipulation so long as you play your part, Ellzea. A few specific words is all it will take. They'll trigger his interest for sure!"_

That had been Clematis's words to them before they parted ways to put her hare-brained scheme into action. She had gone after Aracelis. That left Ellzea and Geero with the more dangerous part of her plan, of course. Damn Clematis was better suited for slinking around hallways, selectively sharing information. But, no, she wanted to go after that stupid Aracelis because she had all of Clematis's attention lately for a reason the nutcase refused to share. Not that Ellzea was jealous or anything. She spent the last decade gathering forces and eluding Aizen with the strange plant. Things that held Clematis's fancy didn't seem to live very long unless she found them suitable pawns. Made Ellzea angry because she definitely fell into the pawn category.

This all, however, led them to a darkened hallway in one of the underground sections of the palace. Only a few more moments. He and his Fracción were down another hall on the right, apparently lurking there for no perceivable reason.

Ellzea jabbed her elbow into Geero's ribs to get him to stop chattering his teeth. If that brat Licidae wasn't so abstinent towards her, Ellzea would have brought her instead. The stupid bird shook so hard he might cause an earthquake. She made him rehearse his goddamn lines for a reason. Idiot. She made him walk on her right just so he would get hit first should this not end well. Clearly, if this backfired, it wouldn't be her damn fault.

"Geero," she stated flatly, making the blond nearly jump at the sudden break in silence. They both stopped. "We're alone, right? You don't sense anyone nearby?" Step one in Clematis's scheme: start a conversation at least a hall away so they don't become overly suspicious this was a setup. According to her- and therefore according to Ulquiorra- the Fifth wasn't the smartest.

"N-n-n-no! N-no one!" Geero squawked. Ellzea gave him a deadly glare for the sheer amount of stammering. "Th-that's good, right?" He let a sigh when Ellzea rolled her eyes at his attempt to make up for his mistake.

"Good. I'm pissed off!" she screamed, causing Geero stumble following him nearly flinging himself into the wall after jumping into the air. "Ulquiorra and his Fracción are intolerable," she growled, stomping her foot loud enough it echoed down the empty hall. At least this wasn't an act. She truly was pissed off at the two. Mainly Ulquiorra though, which was why she agreed to Clematis's scheme. "Especially Aracelis. That bitch…" After another feral growl she hissed out, "She's just his little slut, doing whatever he wants, constantly clinging to him. Their disgusting! Seriously, they piss me off! Something needs to be done about those two…"

Geero remained quiet, a scowl reminding him it was his turn to speak. "M-maybe we should kill her! Right! Ri-?"

Ellzea stepped in front of him, backhanding the left side of his face before yelling, "You idiot! If something happens to that damn woman, that bastard would go after whoever hurt her! It'd goad him into a fight is what that'd do! Do you think we would stand a chance if that happened?"

"I… I suppose not," Geero mumbled, rubbing his cheek, not having expected the smack. She added that just because he got on her nerves again. At least he remembered his lines well enough.

"Now shut up," Ellzea mumbled in irritation. "I doubt you have anything useful to say anyway. Keep walking too. Never know who's listening in this damn place…"

Just as they resumed walking, Ellzea heard a cackle possibly more painful to listen to than Clematis's come from the adjoining hall. "Now that sounds like a good time," that same voice said gleefully. Nnoitra if Ellzea wasn't mistaken. He did fall for the bait, just as Clematis predicted he would. Whatever memory of Ulquiorra's she'd used had been useful indeed.

"M-master Nnoitra, I don't-" came another voice, speaking like he were about to meet his end. Reminded her of Geero, much to her displeasure. The world didn't need two Geero's. Barely need one.

"Shut it, Tesla!" Ellzea held back a laugh as Nnoitra shouted at his Fracción. She could appreciate the feeling of being surrounded by idiots. He seemed to understand that people like Geero and Tesla needed to constantly be reminded of their place. "I've been trying to get that bastard to fight me forever. He shouldn't be ranked above me! He's weak!" Nnoitra hissed. "I'm the strongest! If all it takes is killing one weak woman, than I will! Besides, playing with her would be more fun than listening to you whine like a little bitch." He let out another raucous laugh. "Especially if she's Ulquiorra's play toy. I didn't think he was interested in women! Might have to see what's so special about her."

Ellzea shoved Geero down another hall the moment she heard the Fifth Espada's weapon creak as he moved. She quickly passed Geero as he mindlessly trailed behind her. They headed in the opposite direction of the entrance. They didn't want to accidentally cross paths with the homicidal Espada now that he seemed excited for battle. Apparently he already wanted to fight Ulquiorra and all it took was giving him something he could use to incite the Fourth's wrath- which was a feat to find. If Clematis hadn't found out about his attachment to Aracelis, things would be a lot more difficult.

But this, this was what made Clematis dangerous. While completely and utterly annoying, as well as near useless in battle, her ability to provoke others into doing her bidding… To find weaknesses with such ease… She had only become more dangerous now. Her ability to read memories, it was powerless against mindless, fear-driven, weak hollows, but the Arrancar, anything with the ability to reason at a higher level, then Clematis became a real threat. Emotional and psychological attacks, as well as blackmailing, opponents otherwise untouchably powerful were Clematis's specialties. Ulquiorra, with everything he knew, made Clematis a menace that even Aizen had had to address- she knew far more than a Número should. She may be incapable of being an Espada with her lacking strength, but damned if the woman didn't prove she could play a situation to her advantage. To think she wasted it just to screw with people for her own warped sense of amusement.

If Ellzea had any of chance of getting back at Ulquiorra, it would be through using the bitch that clung to him and Clematis. Then she'd find a way to get rid of the soul reapers. Once they were all out of her way, she'd be back to being the leader. She'd get back her army and she'd rule all of Hueco Mundo liked she planned to before this war.

* * *

Aracelis glared at Clematis, the plant grinning happily as she waved at her. Aracelis was fed up with this damn hollow and her falsely cheerful expression showing up to bother her for no conceivable reason. The overly exuberant greetings, the winking crap, and the fact she almost _killed_ her with ceros during that battle pissed her off. Clematis wanted a chat? Oh, Aracelis would give her one to remember.

Aracelis used sonido to step in front of Clematis. She fought back a smile when the plant stumbled in the sand, her eyes widened in surprise. "What the hell do you want?" she snapped, getting right to the point. Too bad Clematis was taller than her… Seriously, it was so hard to be intimidating with all of these tall people towering over her. She felt like a child yelling at a giant- even if it was only a few inches difference.

Clematis took a step back, forcing her grin back into place after laughing awkwardly a few times. Did she _not_ expect her to react with hostility? "Now, now, no need to be so violent and suspicious, dear Aracelis!" The weed ignored the dirty look she got when referring to her as 'dear.' "I just wanted to share something with you!" she chirped happily.

"What the hell are you on about now?" Aracelis ground her teeth together when Clematis stayed infuriatingly quiet. "Why do you keep bothering me?" she nearly shouted as she threw her hands to her side. This just wasn't something she needed right now. Not when she was stressed already.

"No need to be so angry." Clematis pouted. Aracelis really hoped she didn't look like that when she pouted… At least she didn't take on a childish tone like Clematis did. "I'm answering your question, I promise!" Clematis smiled brightly when Aracelis waited to hear what she expected to be a very odd motive. A normal one she could have figured out on her own. "You see, I have a very unique ability. I'm sure Ulquiorra's told you all about it!"

Was this a trick? Ulquiorra never mentioned anything about Clematis's ability. She wouldn't put it past the weed to lie, but… But Ulquiorra had a habit of keeping things from her. Whatever Clematis was getting at, it apparently warranted insane attempts at teasing two hollows way more powerful than her. "No," Aracelis answer flatly, trying to feign disinterest.

"Really!?" Clematis gaped at her before shaking her head disapprovingly. "So _mean_ of him! But you're used to him being inconsiderate aren't you? So sad, the way he treats you. He's such a jerk! Never ever telling you things!" Beyond the mocking tone, Clematis appeared quite smug.

"How do you…?" Aracelis trailed off, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at the plant. Clematis's confidence went beyond her simply saying this as an assumption, but like she already knew it as fact.

"Because that's what I do! I can read memories." Her smile slipped away. "I got a nice peek at his when you came to recruit us. How sad that he never told you, because, well, I know more about him than you ever will."

She… She had to be screwing with her. "You're trying to tell me that you _saw_ his memories," Aracelis said disbelievingly, more to convince herself than accuse Clematis. "Yeah, sure you did. Just leave me alone."

"You don't believe me?" Clematis held her hand- or clump of vines actually- to her chest. "You wound me, dear Aracelis. I wouldn't lie about something that matters oh-so-much to you."

"Shut up," Aracelis mumbled, ready to shove the plant aside so she could be done with this conversation.

Clematis had a different idea. "I'll tell you my favorite one!" She stuck her arm out, pointing at Aracelis's chest. "He stabbed your sword through your chest. He thought you were dead and left you behind." She gave a pleased smile before dramatically covering her face with her sleeve to wail, "She's gone, the one hollow that I could understand without hearing! And I killed her! Why did this happen!? Why did I do this? Why do I hurt so-"

"Shut the hell up!" Aracelis shouted, fist slamming into the side of Clematis's face. She fell silent, dropping her arm back to her side to stare at Aracelis blankly. Her mask now had a small crack running down it. With the weed silenced, Aracelis could only glare at her in question. No one else knew about that event. Clematis had told the truth about her ability, that she saw Ulquiorra's memories. The last part, however, Aracelis was sure had been added just to rile her up. Ulquiorra wouldn't have been so upset..."What do you want?" she hissed. Aracelis couldn't understand what the hell the plant got from all of this.

"Well," Clematis began grumpily, "I feel bad for you, Aracelis. You really appear to like this bastard even though all he does is hurt you." She smiled again, saying, "So I'm just trying to help you! You know he'll never tell you these things, but maybe if _I_ do you'll see that he absolutely hates you and doesn't care for you at all! You're just a little game to him. Something he doesn't understand so he studies you, playing with your emotions to see how you react. He doesn't even _like_ you. He wants you to die. He always has."

Aracelis bit her lip, her attention then on the ground. If the stupid weed stopped after saying he hated her, she might have believed her. Clematis's voice held conviction when she said he wanted her die. And that, that was a lie. He told her it had been an accident. That was a recent memory that Clematis didn't have knowledge of. And she trusted him. A lot of times, that was probably a mistake, but she trusted him. He hadn't been lying. He sincerely meant it.

"A-and the catch?" Aracelis asked, managing to keep her voice timid despite how livid she was. She still wanted, no, needed to know why Clematis was doing this.

"Ha, ha! You're so silly Aracelis. I just want to have a little look at your memories… I think you're _very_ interesting. I would like to get to know you better. See things from your perspective. Then we can be best friends!"

Why would her memories be so important? It's not like she knew anything that Ulquiorra didn't. This had to be another ploy. Screw this. She was done playing the plant's game. "No thanks." Aracelis turned to leave.

"Do you want to know where the scar on your shoulder came from, then?" Aracelis stopped, facing the smirking plant once more with her eyebrow raised. "I could tell you~"

How? That sure as hell wasn't part of Ulquiorra's memories. Or hers. So how did…?

 _Don't listen to her, you idiot. She doesn't know a damn thing. She's bluffing. Just get rid of her already. Kill her and shut her up for good!_

"Oh!" Clematis chirped, pulling Aracelis's attention away from her instinct's advice. "That's adorable! Are you upset? Did you think I would give the big secret away? I wonder, are you going to try and kill me now?" She fell into a fit of giggles following her nonsensical rant. "Aracelis, when you blankly stare like that, frowning, it's so cute! Thinking of someone obnoxious?"

"You, idiot!" Aracelis screamed. She wanted the plant gone from either existence, or in the very least her sight. "You're so damn annoying!" She spiked her spiritual pressure as a threat, ready to raise her hand and blast a cero through the plant's irritating face if she didn't scurry off like the pest she was. Even then, Aracelis would be sending off a few ceros just to get the point across that she didn't like being mocked by something like Clematis.

"Bye-bye!" Clematis darted past her on the way to the central towers. "Try not to get too hurt!"

Aracelis spun around, heel digging into the sand to pursue the giggling weed. She almost fell backwards as a black blade breezed in front of her nose, a fraction away from having sliced her in half. The dual bladed weapon crashed into the sand a few feet away before flying back through the air after the chain attached to it was tugged. Aracelis whipped her head around, eyes wide with her latest, unforeseen brush with death. The lanky, creepily tall man with a large collared shirt caught his weapon in hand, wide smile and narrowed eye more terrifying than his weapon. Nnoitra Gilga, the Fifth Espada.

"Wh…" Aracelis swallowed nervously before screaming, "What the hell is your problem!?" She never even met this bastard! What the hell did she do that made him come after her!? At least Grimmjow had a damn reason to hate her! This was just uncalled for. His lack of immediate response made the last bit of her restraint snap. "Seriously what's your damn deal!? I didn't do a damn thing so why in hell are you attacking me you piece of crap!?"

"Feisty, aren't you? I bet Ulquiorra disciplines you for that mouth of yours. Puts it to other uses." Nnoitra cackled again when Aracelis stared at him, her expression between revulsion and confusion at the lewd comment. She'd rather deal with threats of having her throat torn out than _this_.

When he suddenly fell silent again, Aracelis focused more on him than his words. She had no idea of what to expect from him. He ranked above Grimmjow, and she had gotten destroyed by him even though she had some clue to his fighting strategy. Nnoritra ranked higher. She'd never seen him fight. She had nothing to go on. Aracelis was beginning to see that it was probably a mistake having not run for it right away. She did have a problem mouthing off… Not that she was agreeing with Nnoitra's earlier comment! Ulquiorra'd never done anything like that. Although… If he asked…

 _This was not the time for fantasizing, idiot!_ Instinct barked before quietly adding in disgust, _If that is the last thought I have to hear before I end up dead, I swear…_

The giant weapon was launched at her again. Aracelis felt a breeze as she stepped to the side for the blade to pass. She glared at the tall Espada again, and he stood firmly in place, showing he had no intention of leaving after tossing a weapon at her twice.

"What do you-" Aracelis cut herself off as she saw him yank on the chain again. She barely avoided a hit from behind as Nnoitra reached to catch his blade once more. Even with sonido… Despite the size of the weapon, it was surprisingly quick. She had never dealt with such a strange weapon either. "Why are you attacking me!?" she shouted in frustration, hoping he would answer just to give her some more time to think. An escape plan was needed.

"Killing the Fourth's plaything will get him to finally fight me." He took a step forward, adjusting his grip on his weapon to swing it threateningly. "So hurry up and die!"

His… Plaything? Really now? "Who the hell told you that nonsense?" Aracelis screamed, rising her hand, preparing to fight off the lunatic until she had a better idea. Then it stuck her what had happened. Why he was here. How he got the impression Ulquiorra would care if she lived or died. Or that she was… involved with him in that manner. "Clematis," she growled through clenched teeth. She had been distracting her until Nnoitra showed up. Still no motive, but the weed certainly orchestrated this. Otherwise it was all too convenient. Oh, she would rip apart that damn weed when she saw her again.

"Doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you either way," he declared. "There's no place for the weak here!"

Nnoitra jumped into the air, bringing down his blade to cleave her apart. She managed to jump back but he rushed at her. She stepped to the side to dodge the weapon as it swung for her again, but then he brought up his leg, time seeming to slow as she saw his unnerving sneer. His foot smashed into her ribs to send her tumbling though the sand. With a groan she pushed herself up. She barely had her legs beneath her when he came at her again. Instead of waiting for him to get close again, she raised her hand. The blue glow blared as it engulfed his form in light.

The dust cleared. Aracelis bit her lip, already knowing a cero wouldn't work. Hadn't with Grimmjow, certainly wouldn't with this guy. Nnoitra stood unscathed and unimpressed. Yeah, she was screwed. Hierro remained her downfall, whether it was hers or others. Time to run. She turned around and used sonido in an all-out sprint towards the towers.

"Running away?" he called after her in apparent irritation. "You think you can escape from _me_?"

Before Nnoitra attacked again, Aracelis sent a bala into the ground to kick up a small sandstorm to hide in. She restrained her spiritual pressure hoping it would confuse him for a few moments. Then she went to using pesquisa as she continued to run and nearly prayed that perhaps Ulquiorra was still around to save her sorry self from annihilation again. He didn't appear to be leaving where he stood even if he were nearly out of the tower. But, instead of being frustrated or sad that he wasn't coming for her, Aracelis grinned. Even if she were attempting to hide, she started cackling madly at what she sensed. She'd have to get away from Nnoitra on her own- he didn't seem too fast, or intelligent for that matter. Aracelis changed direction. Just needed to find someone else to dissuade him because Ulquiorra… Ulquiorra was busy _chatting_ with someone else.

Stupid plant.

* * *

Ulquiorra walked down the hallway with more haste than he cared to admit. Aracelis… How she managed to get into trouble so often astounded him. As soon as he felt her spiritual pressure spike earlier, he had been forced to make a choice: personally go after the Sixth for undermining Aizen or go make sure Aracelis didn't come to harm. Of course he ended up choosing the damn woman again, especially when her enemy went from being Clematis to Nnoitra. She presumably could handle Clematis, it was just that the creature could divulge information better kept secret. Nnoitra, however, he would go after her until she lay dead. It still perturbed him that he was choosing Aracelis over maintaining the integrity of Aizen's orders…

Ulquiorra already assumed this had been the masterminding of Clematis as well. She most likely hinted to Nnoitra that he was attached to Aracelis, let alone _protective_ of her; otherwise there was no need for the Fifth to pursue her, not when Aracelis actually heeded his warning to avoid the degenerate. Nnoitra… The idiot wished to fight him for some inconceivable, irrational reason. He had since the disappearance of Nelliel, when he brazenly challenged _everyone_ for something as ridiculous as wanting to prove he was supposedly 'the strongest.' Ulquiorra thought he resolved the matter when he simply ignored the challenges, tossing Nnoitra away whenever he attempted to attack him. Now Aracelis had to deal with that cretin as he likely spouted off vulgar things while trying to kill her all because the plant had used her. Clematis had been using _his_ memories to find ways to bother him in what had to be some sort of petty revenge for dragging the rebels back to Las Noches. Or injuring that moth hollow she seemed fond of- she _had_ conceded the battle when the moth had been near death.

So he decided to leave the punishment of Grimmjow to Tousen. Ulquiorra wasn't about to let the damn fool tear off Aracelis's mask like he had with Nelliel's Fracción. Or do worse. Especially when Aracelis had been pulled into the deranged plant's schemes solely for the fact she… That she was close to him. This is why he didn't want anyone to know he cared about her to any degree. She inevitably got caught in the crossfire for it. He could blame Grimmjow's ire on Aracelis, but Nnoitra, and perhaps even Clematis, were his problems come to threaten her.

He turned a corner, now on the ground floor of the building. Then he halted. Leaning against the opposite wall, quietly giggling between panting like she were exhausted, stood Clematis. Ulquiorra's attention had been wholly focused on Aracelis before, and he'd missed that the bothersome hollow had escaped the battlefield of her own creation only to hide here. She was alone and unware. He would be catching her off guard. It would rattle her. Now would be the opportune time to interrogate her.

For a few seconds he remained still, glaring at the oblivious plant. Aracelis had been running this direction, but then began heading towards Harribel's quarters instead. Surely she knew he was there, that he was coming for her unlike last time. Aracelis chose to leave him to deal with the irritating plant instead of helping her. She could outrun Nnoitra long enough to seek Harribel's protection, he was sure. The Third would be able to fend him off should he continue attacking Aracelis when she reached her. He would use the opportunity she had given him, then.

Ulquiorra walked forward, hands in his pockets, expression blank, not attempting to disguise his presence at all. Instead he waited for the delirious plant to hear him over her own laughter. When he was a few feet away her head shot up, eyes widened and grin gone from her face as she stared at him in unmasked horror. He also caught sight of a crack in her mask- Aracelis had been upset enough to strike the plant over whatever words they had exchanged. Clematis stood paralyzed for a few seconds before attempting to run away, knowing she had made a deadly mistake. Ulquiorra increased his spiritual pressure to the point Clematis smashed into the floor on her hands and knees.

"W—w-well, h-hello, Mr. Espada," she forced out despite her entire body shaking in fear and likely pain. Clematis barely managed to turn her head enough to look at him. "W-why the th-threatening look? D-did Aracelis… get in trouble again? You… You really should be more c-careful with her. You'd hate to… to lose her a-again." Clematis let out a feeble laugh. "You should g-go help her instead of… of playing with me."

"You directed Nnoitra into pursuing her." He would not be waiting for her to drop the innocent act.

"S-so you figured that out…" Clematis coughed a few times, nearing the point she would pass out under the stress. He lessened his spiritual pressure just enough to keep her awake but in crushing pain. "But why did I?" She paused, now able to strenuously move to sit in front of him. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at him without the cheerful façade she usually had. "I don't like you two. It's that simple!" Clematis chuckled a few times before sighing. "Too bad Aracelis is caught in the middle, huh? I mean, I really like her. Such a cute girl under all of that anger and self-doubt. I'm sure you agree with that. And it's just you two are so _awful_ that I _need_ to torment you; Aracelis becomes unfortunate collateral damage. Then again, you two have done more damage to her than I could _ever_ hope to."

"Tell me what you know of the parasite." This had to be the second person she spoke of if she honestly wasn't set on torturing Aracelis. If this were fact, then just as he assumed, Clematis had seen the parasite's memories while it had control over Aracelis's body instead of hers.

"Parasite?" Clematis forced a smile across her face to replace the pained expression. "I don't know what you mean, Ulquiorra."

He lashed out and grabbed her by the front of her shirt to throw her back into the wall, the stone cracking with the impact. "You witnessed its memories. Do not act dumb." Ulquiorra did not intend on wasting time playing games with this creature. She _would_ answer the question, because he deemed this matter important. It was something he was willing to dirty his hands over. "If you value your life, tell me all you know."

"You'll still just kill me anyway," Clematis grumbled, her legs shaking as she tried to remain standing, her body still crushed by his spiritual pressure and in another wave of pain after being tossed into a wall and to her feet. "I know too much. But I suppose I may have seen _some_ of his memories…" she trailed off after shrugging her shoulders.

"Speak."

"So demanding," she whined. "I don't get why she likes you so much. Honestly, you just keep hurting her, treating her like she doesn't matter to you at all. You even hated the fact she had been alive because you mourned for her for so long. So selfish. You never think of what she felt. And you act like she made you crawl into that tree too. Resenting her for leaving you because she had been so weak and pathetic that she died. You're the one that injured her. You blame her for your own weaknesses as well. For, as you say, making you more hu-"

He cut her off by slamming her into the wall by her throat. "Answer what I asked instead of making pointless commentaries." He kept just enough pressure on her neck to threaten her, but allow her to speak easily enough. She was right; he wouldn't keep her alive after she told him what he wanted. This all determined how painful her end would be. Cooperation would ensure a quicker, still painful, death. He would not be letting her go after she attacked Aracelis. She would inevitably do it again if he let her live. Words would not dissuade this creature; killing her was the best and only solution.

"H-he's been there since she became a hollow! That's the oldest memory I saw," she squeaked, apparently comprehending the situation finally. "Aizen! Aizen too. When she tore off her mask, Aizen protected them both from being killed! He wanted allies. He made a deal with the parasite. Promised him power over Aracelis if he helped Aizen with this war." She began desperately trying to free herself, squirming, attempting to pry his hand from her throat with her still-sleeved vines. "Ask her. Aizen said he met her before when he went to fetch her! He had been talking to the two of them."

She was lying. She knew more than just that. The parasite wouldn't have tried to kill her for something as trivial as having met Aizen before coming to Las Noches. They all had at some point. He had recruited most of the Vasto Lorde himself. Aracelis hadn't been an exception; rather she was merely one of the earliest. "How do I get rid of it?"

"I don't know!" Clematis appeared panicked as his grip tightened. Another lie. She had seen all of the parasite's memories. She had seen back to when Ulquiorra was a lesser hollow feeding on humans. Possibly to when he had been human- when she began using her power he did not have a clear image in his mind to what she had been seeing at that point. The parasite hadn't just come into existence with Aracelis; it had older memories than infecting Aracelis when she became a hollow. Memories that would reveal how it changed hosts and, in turn, how that could possibly be used to remove it. "I… Don't…" She gasped, eyes about to roll back. His grip began to prevent her from speaking, instead her focus on drawing in strangled breaths. She desperately flared her spiritual pressure, likely to call her allies to her.

After another moment of struggling to free herself and fighting to breathe, she managed to force out, "He…." Ulquiorra let up because she seemed to be back on topic. "He hates you so much. All because she adores you. Because she would do _anything_ for you. You're the one that'll get her killed."

Instantly he smashed her head back into the wall. He already knew this. "How do I remove it from her?" he repeated, eyes narrowed with the fizzling away of his patience. She remained quiet, one eye pinched closed and a grimace on her face; he wouldn't be surprised if she had a concussion or a cracked skull now. "Stalling will not save you. Your allies cannot save you. You hold the noose around your own neck. Step to your death or answer the question."

"How poetic," Clematis coughed out. "You're wrong though. There's one other person that can help me still." She smiled brightly as she wrapped a few of her vines around his arm, thorns ineffective as they tore into the fabric of his sleeve and failed to pierce skin. She did not appear to be using her ability either. Oddly she tried to pull herself closer. "I don't intend on dying, Ulquiorra. Not when you three can still provide me with some fun." She tried to lean forward as well, successfully choking herself more, but determined to do whatever she had in mind. "You really… should be nicer… to her."

His eyes widened as he realized what Clematis intended to do. He had been paying too much attention to the irritating weed. Ulquiorra tried to drop the plant, but the damage had been done. Clematis brought up her oversized sleeve as she stepped closer and leaned forward, blocking Aracelis's view just as she entered the hall. He briefly caught the expression on Aracelis's face… Her eyes held a look of utter betrayal as Clematis made it seem like he had been doing a bit more than simply speaking with the plant. Now incredibly annoyed with Clematis for tricking Aracelis, for making her think for even a second he would be _kissing_ such a disgusting creature rather than her, he ripped his arm out Clematis's vines, tearing off a few in the process, before grabbing the side of her head and throwing her down the hall into the floor. Just as she struggled back to her feet a blue hued bala flew through the air. Clematis's burnt arm fell to floor, blood pooling quickly around the shattered stone and severed limb. The plant, barely able to walk a straight line, grabbed the wound and haphazardly stumbled down the hall, leaving a trail of muddy blood behind her.

He looked back to Aracelis instead of pursuing the injured weed. She lowered her hand, trying to hide her face as she looked the side while biting her bottom lip. Without a word she turned to leave.

* * *

 **A/N- Don't really have much to say… Might change the rating to M just to give myself some more freedom, though. Not sure yet… Doesn't really matter too much though, I suppose. Anyways…**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to AmethystRaine2016, Gisolei, AthenaDrowned, kimmay94, Crimson Songstress, Glowduck, and macwag5 for following and/or favoriting! I am still really happy that so many people are following and favoriting this!**

 **haipa-chan** **\- Happy to hear you liked Ulquiorra's pov because, well, that was fun to write because he just got so frustrated and annoyed with Aracelis and himself, but then being 'too proud' to go deal with it properly. Just him ignoring the 'problem' instead of, forbid the thought, having to admit he was interested in her** _ **to her**_ **. I kept imagining him wanting to bang his head into a wall, but of course he is too refined for that. We'll just see how well that all works out for him, huh? And he didn't exactly go after Grimmjow as fun as that would be- kept the canon of Tousen bringing back kitty cat- but hey, he decided to go help Aracelis instead because he didn't want her to get hurt. So sweet, in his own weird way. Glad you liked the drawings to, because I know I didn't describe much about Clematis or Ellzea, but also kinda struggle with descriptions in general. Especially with the hollow masks and releases and the like. What were you imagining though? Just curious; I find it interesting what people come up with just from my attempts at descriptions. And still considering changing this to M or a separate oneshot 'fic' for things that I can't put or fit into this. Still deciding, like always… At least you think I could pull it off well enough, so thanks! Thank you for reviewing (and I mean that's dedication if you came back two days later, so seriously, thank you)!**

 **lunar loon** **\- Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter because it was fun to write. And that dang parasite. He doesn't play nicely with others, but he** _ **did**_ **keep her alive as a lesser hollow. A bloodthirsty Aracelis doesn't always think rationally, and she would have tried eating a bunch of soul reapers if Mirro hadn't been saying 'no, bad Aracelis' like a strict mother to an unruly child. Now, though, they have some differing views… And she's sort of recognizing she doesn't like 'instinct' at all. Thanks for leaving a review!**

 **thestormwriter123** **\- Haha, yeah I thought maybe a word got missed last review, but don't worry, I took it as a compliment! I really do like OC stories, so I am trying to make decent one for others to read. Glad you find I'm succeeding at it. Also I don't know why I find it so entertaining that you thought Aracelis looked more like Cirruci- like I'm still giggling picturing that- but I do. Sort of sad I ruined that image for you now, but yeah, OCs can be confusing if you don't really know what they look like. Usually I'd try to leave it up to reader interpretation, but then I can't find a way describe something, so I'll end up offering actual pictures to make up for it… In this case hollow forms, masks, and sword releases are sort of hard to accurately describe through words- for me anyway. Glad the drawings helped out! And electronics and websites, right? Thanks for reviewing again, even if the site had been uncooperative!**


	24. Chapter 24- Compromise

Aracelis bit her lip to hold back anything she might have otherwise said. She lowered her hand, the last traces of the bala she had sent into Clematis fading away. At least she managed to sever one of the plant's arms; the infuriating creature stumbled down the hallway drunkenly, blood still bubbling out of the wound to prove just how much damage had been done. Even though she should have felt satisfied with the damage, Aracelis was still too upset with what happened when she arrived for any such gratification in wounding the damned creature.

Her teeth dug into her lip with how hard she bit down. She was… She was such an _idiot_! When she ran into the hall, she thought… With how Clematis had been leaned forward and how close she was, her sleeve hiding their faces, she thought she saw Clematis and Ulquiorra… She thought she saw them kissing. Her first reaction had been to freeze in place, an unexplained ache in her chest as she looked on. Jealous. She felt jealous even though she _knew_ how moronic she was being to even consider the idea! Clematis's face had been near purple with how hard Ulquiorra was gripping her damn neck. He immediately threw her across the room when she arrived as well. To think that Ulquiorra had been doing anything other than threatening to kill Clematis… It was just dumb and Aracelis knew it.

Clematis had used her as a distraction…

 _Aracelis smiled gleefully as Harribel again sent Nnoitra into a string of curses with her mere presence. The blonde had come to save her, meeting her halfway when she noticed Aracelis had been seeking protection from her. Harribel had even pulled her out of the way of an attack before picking her up to move them a safer distance away- Aracelis had been bright red while Harribel carried her, and for some time after. Just as Harribel stared down Nnoitra, giving him a few words of warning about attacking an ally for no reason, Aracelis sensed Clematis beginning to spike her spiritual pressure in apparent duress. After hurriedly thanking Harribel, she excused herself to go see what was happening back at the tower, mainly curious why Clematis had lost her arrogance and tried to call her allies so desperately. And, well, Clematis must have believed she was about to be killed, so Ulquiorra must have been in a_ _ **great**_ _mood. Aracelis wanted to talk the plant to see what she knew before Ulquiorra wiped her from existence, or at least be present as she met her demise._

Again, the damn plant had tricked her. And Aracelis had fallen for it so easily.

Aracelis glanced up from the floor to see that Ulquiorra was just standing there as Clematis scurried away. She didn't understand why he didn't go after her. This was exactly what Clematis had been hoping for when she lured Aracelis back. She knew she had shown up and ruined Ulquiorra's plan to threaten information out of the weed, so why? Why was he just standing there? He had to be furious with her for interrupting if he chose to stay instead of going after Clematis…

She quickly turned her head when he looked at her. Not only had she done something stupid to piss Ulquiorra off, she had realized something. She _felt_ jealous. Even if it had been a trick, she truly had felt jealous that his attention appeared to be on another woman. That someone else would take him away from her… She… She might like… No, there was another word she was way too terrified to even think of that might possibly describe what she felt for him. Which was so stupid, because he wouldn't feel the same. He'd never reciprocate such a dumb, worthless, human emotion. He'd hate it. He'd despise how human she had become. Realizing how much she… How much she felt for him… in addition to the rage she felt towards Clematis, she was utterly miserable and horribly confused. If _that_ was what this feeling was, then he might really decide that he didn't want to deal with her anymore. She… She thought that him throwing her away would be okay if that's what he wanted but… if he actually did… Thinking he might was too much. Painful, even. She didn't want to leave him. Not ever again.

Aracelis began walking away, too scared she might say something stupid with how upset and confused she was, or that he might tell her to leave him alone permanently. The last day had been torturing her brain with far too many conflicting thoughts and emotions. She wanted to go hide under a rock.

"Aracelis," he called after her, his voice cold. She picked up her pace in hopes he would choose to go after Clematis instead. It wasn't too late for him to catch up with the weed. Suddenly he appeared in front of her, having used sonido to prevent her from escaping. Her attention shot to the ground when she saw the hardness in his eyes. "What are-?"

"Leave me alone!" Aracelis tried to walk around him, her eyes burning at this point. She didn't need him to see that. Not when it was another disgustingly human display of emotion. That would be the breaking point.

' _Yes, it is pathetically human,'_ Instinct quickly agreed. _'He'd hate it. He'd hate you. Just run away and hide, you idiot,'_ it laughed before adding, _'Before he decides to punish you for it! Maybe he'll smack your stupid face a few times so you learn your lesson! That always did get you to shut up! If he does smash your face in, I might appreciate him a bit more!'_ The ecstatic cackling gradually faded from her thoughts.

He caught her wrist. Then he proceeded to drag her behind him down the hall. She tried to dig her heels into the ground and pull her wrist free, but knew she wouldn't be able to. Not with how his nails dug into her skin with his vice-like grip. He was a moment away from snapping it, she was sure. If she tried to run he might just decide to make her a stain on the ground like he had almost done to Clematis. She didn't fight back when he directed her into an empty room. He closed the door behind him with more force than necessary, the sound echoing.

She backed up until she felt her back press against the wall, wanting to be as far away from him as possible in the rather small space. Her attention remained on the floor, not daring to look at what expression he had now that she had yelled at him. After a moment of silence he walked forward, his slow, deliberate steps terrifying to the point she began shaking with every one. He would kill her. He had had enough. She had interrupted and then yelled at him and acted too human and…

She saw him raise his arm. "Don't touch me," she nearly whimpered, her voice still trembling. He froze for a second before lowering his arm back to his side, putting both of his hands into his pockets. He took a few steps back from her as well.

Aracelis peeked at him, angling her eyes and trying to keep her hair in front of her face. He… He just watched her in silence. She didn't understand. Why did he stop? He didn't have to listen to her… She was _his_ subordinate and certainly the one to blame for everything that had just happened. If he wanted, he could do whatever he wanted to her and she wouldn't be able to stop him. She didn't know why she expected him to lash out, to strike her, but she had been so scared he might. Something in her head screamed that that was what happened when someone she lo- liked got angry with her. Instinct agreed with that reaction, which may have been an indication she should have disregarded it from the start.

But Ulquiorra had listened to her. He hadn't reacted the way her brain thought he would. He gave her some space, let her calm down before expecting anything of her. That pulled her out of her initial panic. She glanced back to her wrist, only one side with light bruising from _her_ resisting. The damage had been from her efforts alone, his nails digging in just because she had been pulling away with all her strength. He probably only dragged her in here because she had been making a scene for everyone in Las Noches to see and hear her embarrassing hysterics. She hadn't exactly been rational- still wasn't- and the less people who saw the better. She didn't understand…

Slowly and shyly she raised her head. He opened his mouth but she interrupted by almost screaming, "I-I'm sorry! I got jealous and… and I know that was stupid because you wouldn't be kissing anyone. I… I even saw you had been strangling her, but I… I'm so dumb, I'm sorry!" Aracelis desperately spat out, hoping to explain herself. His eyes had widened a bit at her outburst. "I… I gave Clematis a chance to escape too. All because I'm so stupid and useless. I was mad at myself, and I… I let that get in the way and she ran off and I… You must be very angry with me." She looked back to the ground, wrapping her arms around herself. "I… I deserve whatever punishment you want to give me," she whispered. He really should punish her for being so obnoxious. She knew he must want to. For constantly getting into to trouble and then expecting him to save her… For pushing her own desires onto him even though he sure as hell didn't want her. She was such an inconvenience to him. She'd understand if he wanted to punish her, or even kill her.

"Aracelis." She looked up at him again, his tone… different. Soft and almost gentle instead the wrath she expected. He stared back at her, his eyes matching his tone, the earlier hardness gone. He appeared rather… sympathetic. Aracelis knew she was imagining crap at that point. He was probably just tired of her nonsense. "Clematis had used you, playing your emotions to elicit this reaction in order to create a distraction. She caused this situation." He paused before adding, "I could have pursued her had I chosen to."

In other words, he was telling her –without actually saying it- that this wasn't her fault and that he chose to stay with her. Aracelis had difficulty believing him. She had at least been partially to blame for this. Him excusing her like this… She felt grateful that she hadn't upset him, that he was attempting to assure her this hadn't been her fault, but… But she knew otherwise. Had she not arrived, Ulquiorra could have finished the plant off after getting whatever information he had wanted out of her. She felt guilty for it, even if he appeared to have forgiven her for her foolishness so easily.

She had such a hard time understanding what he wanted from her. He had been so angry earlier, but then again maybe it had been directed at Clematis and not her, because now he was being so… Nice. Without prompting him, he tried to comfort her, telling her she hadn't been to blame after berating herself for Clematis's escape. Now that she thought of it, he had done something similar before. He had interrupted her when she tried to apologize for surviving… And when she was going to apologize for her advances. Did… Did that mean he felt those weren't mistakes either? That she shouldn't be apologizing for them? She just…And he listened when she told him not to touch her too. He gave her the opportunity to calm down some because he saw that she was near hysterical. He… He appeared to care about her, about how she felt. Right now, anyway. She didn't understand his constant shifts in attitude regarding her at all.

After a long pause, Ulquiorra plainly stated, "You met Lord Aizen in the past."

"Huh?" Aracelis returned her attention to his face, his expression back to being blank- if it had ever been different to begin with. She figured he meant it as a question and wished for her to explain, but she certainly had been taken off guard by the random inquiry. With his continued stare she decided to just respond before questioning the topic.

"When he came to bring me to Las Noches he mentioned something along those lines. He asked if I remembered him before saying he had found me after I tore off my mask, and that he protected me while I was passed out. I… I didn't really believe him, but…" She sighed, glancing off to the side. "But I guess he could have. I don't know if anything happened while I had been unconscious. I know I woke up in the same spot, and that nothing had appeared to have changed around me, but I have no idea how long I had been out. Hours, maybe even a few days, I have no idea. Felt like awhile but I had no sense of time when I woke up. I didn't stay long; I wandered off to go find something to wear after freaking out a bit." That made this strange because had she been asleep for a long time, she doubted Aizen would have sat around watching her. He had better things to even then, she was sure. One didn't become a tyrannical leader by sitting around after all. During that time, if he hadn't been there, something must have tried attacking her… It _was_ Hueco Mundo. A hollow passed out on the ground in the open was easy pickings. Just nothing around her seemed disturbed, like nothing else had been there, Aizen included.

Once she concluded her story she looked back at him, tilting her head to the side slightly. He had narrowed his eyes a fraction, his frown a bit more pronounced as he thought over her words with the utmost concentration. She waited, not wanting to interrupt him considering he seemed rather focused.

Why he decided to bring up this topic remained a mystery for about two seconds when she put minimal thought into it. Clematis, of course. The weed had likely answered whatever he asked her in a half-assed manner. Ulquiorra resorted to asking Aracelis to confirm what Clematis hinted at before having to put all the pieces together himself. Aracelis didn't doubt he could, it was just a waste of time if he could have otherwise forced all the information out of Clematis to start with. The topic, though, was still curious. Her meeting Aizen had _nothing_ to do with Ulquiorra's memories. At most, she had mentioned to him that she did not believe she survived under her own power after tearing off her mask; that could have been anyone or no one, not their illustrious soul reaper leader in particular. Clematis had either come up with that on her own- and Aracelis certainly didn't hold the plant's intelligence in high regard- or the weed had somehow seen Aracelis's memories as well. She had no clue when, but Clematis appeared to have known the circumstances around her mask breaking as well as the scar on her shoulder. She didn't know about the scar, making this even stranger. No idea why Ulquiorra would ask about her, though. Aracelis didn't rate herself high up on his priority list.

"Have you witnessed Lord Aizen's zanoakuto's ability?" When she gave him a questioning look he further explained, "It is his procedure to do such with Números at their creation. Do you remember him doing such?"

"No?" She hadn't ever seen the prick use his sword. "Why? What does his zanpakuto do?" The procedure must have a purpose because, despite how much to the contrary she would like to believe, doing so mustn't be a form of boasting. Not completely, anyway. Somehow Ulquiorra had connected the events together as well.

"From what I have come to understand, his shikai can create infallible illusions to those who have witnessed its release. If he had used it on you previously, perhaps when you had been semi-conscious following tearing off your mask, there would be no need to show you again." He paused, waiting for her to show she followed his explanation to that point. After she nodded a few times, he continued. "If you were able to walk after awakening, I surmise you must have been unconscious for a few days."

"How do you know that?" She didn't have any idea how long she had been out, but he seemed to be confident in his analysis. And she really doubted he would be wrong.

He stared at her for several long seconds, which made her regret asking, although she didn't see why the question would make him hesitate. "I had been in and out consciousness for at least two days in excruciating pain when I broke off the majority my mask, and that was _after_ my nervous system partially regained the ability to perceive internal injuries. I doubt you would have fared better than I." Personal information. Of course he would hesitate in sharing personal information with her. She felt bad that the first thing he could feel again had to be agonizing pain, though. He didn't deserve that. "For what purpose, I know not, but Lord Aizen decided it prudent to distort your perceptions into believing no significant amount of time had passed and you had not been subject to anything greater than the mere change in your form."

"O-okay. I… I suppose that makes sense." Didn't know why Aizen would go through the trouble of doing all that, but Ulquiorra seemed to think this to be the proper explanation. "Thank you for explaining it to me because I would have never come close to concluding that from what I knew."

It was sort of nice knowing your own damn past, Aracelis decided. She had a few moments like this where she couldn't remember exactly what had happened to her, this one explained by Aizen's intervention. Ulquiorra could probably figure out some other ones if she told him; she saw that now. He was already working on why she had such limited control over her abilities, as well as how her body seemed to become uncooperative on occasion. He took interest in her problems. In his own bizarre way that meant he cared, right? That was… reassuring in a way. Or, you know, he might just see her as an oddity to be observed simply because he didn't understand something- like Clematis had said.

"Ulquiorra," Aracelis quickly said when she saw him twitch to leave. "Did… Did you become an Arrancar before coming here?" He made it sound that way. From what she remembered, using the Hogyoku meant being dumped into a pit after being exposed to it; no mask tearing necessary. That being said, she had already been an Arrancar, just an imperfect one. Ulquiorra hadn't been either when she had last seen him. But he used the words 'I broke off' so he most certainly had done it himself. He carefully chose his words after all. That made sense too, considering he compared their experiences directly, so it wouldn't have been the same had he become an Arrancar with the use of the Hogyoku alone. "You broke your own mask?"

"Yes." His voice held finality on the matter. He wouldn't tell her why he had, because he wouldn't have torn it off for the hell of it because he had been bored with his existence- like she had been. He was the rational one after all. There had to be a reason somewhere, but per usual, she couldn't see it and he wouldn't tell her.

She stared at him long after he gave his answer. Apparently the look managed to convey she had more she wished to say because he made no attempt to walk away this time. Aracelis, after briefly being distracted by the gorgeous green of his eyes as they focused only on her, swallowed nervously. "So…" she began, not entirely certain she should be bringing this back up for either of their sakes, "what _were_ you doing with her?" Sure, she guessed he had been interrogating Clematis already, but she wanted to know why. And some of what Clematis had said to her still bothered her.

Instantly she regretted speaking when he glared at her- _blatantly_ glared at her-, no attempt to hide his irritation what-so-ever. "Nothing. Had we not discussed this already?"

"I…" she trailed off, looking away under his scrutiny. "You're lying," she mumbled. He may have not been kissing her, but he certainly had been doing _something_. Something that included threatening Clematis into revealing her past to Ulquiorra.

"What is it you wish to hear, Aracelis? Do you actually believe I have any interest in that damn creature?" Her eyes widened when he actually swore, now seeing that he felt quite a bit of annoyance at this subject. Even in his level voice she could hear some venom sneaking in. "Your petty jealousy is unbecoming."

"No! I know that," she growled, glancing at him long enough to give him a glare, upset that he would call her petty when her jealousy meant more than just her displeasure at seeing another woman apparently hanging off of him. It meant she lo- that she really liked him. "You're still lying. When Clematis was speaking with me earlier she told me what had happened during the recruitment mission. She read your memories." Aracelis crossed her arms over her chest, pouting despite trying not to.

"And this somehow makes me a liar," he stated flatly, still unamused with her. "Woman, I had no need to tell you."

She lost it there, her earlier anger coming back with a new target in mind. "Really? No need!?" At his continued blank expression, she stepped forward, now ready to yell at him until she managed to get it through his thick skull that not telling her things was the main reason they ended up so frustrated with each other. Especially when it almost got her maimed. "I think it's pretty damn important seeing as that's the damn reason the weed keeps pestering us! She managed to get Nnoitra to come after me! It would have been nice to at least been warned the plant was trying to have me slaughtered! Do you know how terrifying it is to be chased around by a depraved lunatic swinging a giant weapon around!?"

"That doesn't-"

"You know what?" she interrupted, poking her finger into his chest. She did not want to hear the damn 'it doesn't matter' crap again. It did. It mattered a lot. "She offered to tell me everything she saw too! And I didn't accept!"

He stared at her, briefly losing his annoyed expression to one of surprise. "Why not?" Ulquiorra asked with a look of innocence, his tone not hiding his sincere confusion. Did he really expect her to? She almost regretted shouting at him with how honestly shocked he was at her not accepting the opportunity to know everything she could ever want to about him. He must have really been troubled that Clematis could just reveal everything about him to anyone she wanted. Now that she thought about it, she would be terrified if someone could just spout off her every memory to someone, especially if they were enemies. And he had a certain image as an Espada. Losing the respect he had would be more than a nuisance. It could be a serious problem. He… He had been dealing with that possibility all alone since then too. It had to be stressful, constantly wondering if Clematis would go tell someone.

Aracelis bit her lip, her anger ebbing. For a lack of better words, he had been scared. "I respected your privacy," she mumbled before trying to get back to the point she had been driving at. "Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"No," he immediately responded, her eyes darting upwards to meet his, his quick denial taking her completely off guard. "Overall you are intelligent when not behaving with abandon." With all the dumb stuff she did… She really thought he considered her an idiot because of it, but apparently not. She could live with being called reckless- clearly she was- if he at least thought she had some intelligence.

"S-so," she faltered. Instead of continuing to poke him in the chest, she flattened her hand out in defeat. "So did you think that I wouldn't figure out that the only way you knew I met Aizen was because Clematis had told you so?" After a few seconds of silence –and him surprisingly _not_ chastising her for skipping Aizen's title- she let out a long sigh. "Why were you asking her about my past?"

"It was necessary." Aracelis stared at him, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion. He sounded so gravely serious. He usually was, but right now… It felt different.

"What was it necessary for?" Had this been something he called a necessary lie?

Before he answered, he glanced to her hand still resting on his chest. Slowly he reached up, gently wrapping his fingers around her hand before lifting it off of him. He never let go, instead holding her hand off to the side. "I cannot tell you."

"W-why not?" she raised her voice, not wanting him to not tell her something again. She just… She felt so confused again with him acting like… With him comforting her and… Her attention left his face in favor of staring at his pale fingers still wrapped around her hand.

"It would risk your life."

"My… My life? I… I don't," she trailed off. He had meant it. She didn't understand how this all connected, but he sincerely meant his words. "You're not…"

"Clematis had used her ability on you when you were in your resurrección. I was attempting to learn what had happened, and if there was a possibility of it happening again. Before you arrived, she had only mentioned that you had met Lord Aizen in the past."

"I…" He… He had been trying to help her. She had gotten so upset and he was just trying to help her in his own misguided Ulquiorra way. He even stopped when he saw how distraught she had become with a misunderstanding he clearly viewed as ridiculous. Yes, he had been angry with her stupidly being jealous, but he stayed anyway. He was trying. "You… You never tell me anything and… And I… I start second guessing everything until I get so confused that… That I just don't know what to think anymore. L-like…"

She lightly pulled her hand away, her fingers slipping from his loose hold. Before he lowered his hand back to his side, she grabbed it. Hesitantly she adjusted her hold until she could lace their fingers together, curling her fingers down to gently squeeze his hand. He didn't pull away. After a second, he hesitantly bent his fingers as well, copying her actions. He even returned the squeeze with just as much tenderness. Aracelis couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her face at the gesture.

"Like why are you?" she muttered, focus still on their intertwined fingers. The last time she had done something similar she ended up discovering he was losing his sense of touch. She hoped he wouldn't answer with something as catastrophic as that had been.

"Physically comforting you would calm you sooner than attempting to rationalize with you." Her smile slipped away at that. Had he done this just to shut her up quicker? Had he not actually cared that she had been upset? "I chose to stay," he reminded, apparently having guessed what she automatically thought. He took a step closer, making Aracelis's eyes shoot to his. He stood so close… Only a few inches away from her, with barely any space between them. She wasn't used to him being the one to invade personal space, although; she didn't mind this closeness. If anything she craved it. "And I do not mind such contact with you," he added.

"W-why?" she fumbled. His eyes… The same look again… Like when she had been straddling him with her hands all over him.

"You know why." He leaned closer, his forehead resting on hers. "I should not have to spell this out for you."

"I…" Her cheeks flashed red, and her face- well, actually her entire body- felt like fire. Her stomach fluttered with butterflies too. His skin felt so much cooler than hers… She broke eye contact, unable to withstand his stare. Instead she ended up focused on his lips. "Do... Do you really want to… to do something like… like that? With me?"

He gave an actual sigh, slowly blinking, his breath tickling her skin. "I do not appreciate you coyness," he stated outright. "Is this not what you desire as well?"

"I," she squeaked. Was that… was that what he been trying to get her to do last time? Get her to directly admit that she wanted him? He probably got pissed at her when she said she was doing nothing. Man, how she misinterpreted that situation. Apparently the look she couldn't quite decipher had been lust of all things. She… She really hadn't believed he was _that_ attracted to her. She grossly underestimated how much interest he had in… In fooling around. Maybe they both had been really sexually frustrated with each other to the point they were both irritable messes. They didn't exactly know how to tell each other 'Hey, so I'm horny. Help me out?' Nope, too embarrassed/proud to say anything. If she knew he was interested in such things, though, she might have actually said it. Then again, sitting on someone's lap wasn't exactly a subtle hint at that notion…

"It is a yes or no question, Aracelis." He sounded almost impatient. "Do you desire me?"

"Y-yes?" Did he seriously mean this? He wanted her? She couldn't get over that. This had to be him messing with her.

"Don't say what you believe I wish to hear. Answer for yourself."

She shoved down her apprehension, afraid if she hesitated the opportunity would slip away forever. Hell, she's probably died fighting Nnoitra and this afterlife happened to be a dreamland where she actually got what she wanted. She leaned forward until her lips were a fraction from his. "Yes," she whispered, her eyes slipping closed. "I want you."

For a few seconds, nothing happened. She expected him to pull away suddenly now that he heard what he wanted. She wouldn't be surprised if he had been playing around with her just to see how far she was willing to take this delusion of hers. But then, ever so lightly, she felt his lips brush hers. He pressed his lips to hers in a soft, chaste kiss. He pulled away much too soon.

She opened her eyes halfway, her attention focused solely on him. That blank expression remained as prominent as ever, but his eyes appeared in turmoil. She lessened her grip on his hand so he let her go. That kiss hadn't been long enough… Instead of stepping back, or saying anything, she draped her arms over his shoulders, pulling herself closer. He stayed still, his breath hitching as she pressed her body into his. A light blush covered his usually stark white cheeks at her unexpected actions. She found it adorable that he got flustered like he never had a woman hanging onto him like this. His eyes only left hers once in preference of glancing downwards at her chest. With a new flush of heat rushing to her face, she closed her eyes so she didn't lose her nerve.

Her lips met his again. She moved her lips against his. At first he didn't return the action, but she decided she had simply surprised him because he began following her movements soon enough. After a few moments she began licking his lower lip, resorting to sucking too when he didn't part his lips. Eventually he gave in with a quiet moan, allowing her to slip her tongue into his mouth to run it over his. He didn't respond right away, making her think that maybe he really was unsure about this. She found herself very wrong when he placed a hand on the bare skin of her lower back to press her hips into his, making her break the kiss with a surprised squeak. His other hand found the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair as he brought her lips back to his only to glide his tongue into her mouth to copy her earlier actions with just as much enthusiasm. He had to deal with her fighting back his tongue, though, because she was having fun with him.

* * *

Ulquiorra had to nearly pry Aracelis off of himself to enable them both a moment to breathe. He hadn't planned on that second kiss. He would call it a mistake, but considering how enjoyable it had been proved it otherwise. Admittedly he hadn't helped matters by pulling her closer and encouraging her to continue; her lips were apparently very convincing indeed. His lips still tingled from her passionate kiss… In general, he hadn't believed that pressing lips together would elicit any sort of pleasure, let alone having someone else's tongue in his mouth being so satisfying, yet Aracelis made sure he thought otherwise. Even if kissing was an affectionate display, he wasn't too willing to give it up now that he had a better understanding of how it felt. And her reaction to it, he enjoyed her desperately pulling at him to get him closer even if it weren't physically possible, softly moaning when he did something that pleased her. She also forgot her damn shyness for a second to take command of the situation. He did not know what to exactly expect from her intimately, but her willingness to initiate things was more than acceptable. He would admit that she likely had more experience in these matters than he did…

After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Aracelis leaned forward again, intent of continuing. Ulquiorra quickly raised his hand, gently pushing her back with his fingers on her lips. She immediately pouted and dropped her arms to her side in defeat. They had to discuss something before he let her continue throwing herself at him. His intention had been bringing this up after giving her a small display of affection -and not a kiss, as that had been a change of plan brought on by Clematis's deception-, but Aracelis had complicated matters. Not only when she decided to initiate another kiss, but also when she reacted to Clematis's trickery in such a bizarre manner.

He had decided to ask her if she would be willing to keep their relationship purely physical with no discussion of anything beyond that. If she found it unacceptable, then she could find the attention she sought elsewhere instead of wasting her time on him. He would not be leading her on if she agreed to it outright. A selfish request solely because he wanted to sleep with her without her demanding more from him. Yet, with how hysterical she had been following Clematis's actions, he felt almost hesitant to be proceeding with this. Even if she appeared to have calmed, taking advantage of her emotional state wasn't what he aimed to do at the moment. At first he had been offended that Aracelis would believe he would be doing such a revolting thing with Clematis, that she had been jealous –a ridiculous human emotion as she held no ownership over him and he was not committed to her in any such manner- over nothing at all. Aracelis chose then to admit that she felt angry with her own response and that Clematis had fled, instead of anything he had done. Needlessly upset and blaming herself again for his decisions and that weed's actions… And she had seemed so scared of him, as well as telling him to punish her for something that had clearly not been her fault… Her pitiful expression had somehow forced him into comforting her again before he really became aware of what he was doing. He knew he should have pursued Clematis, but Aracelis managed to warp his priorities into comforting her because she was distraught. Her control over him was disturbing…

Aracelis's eyes got a sudden sparkle of mischievousness. Before he had a chance to react to the look, she licked his fingers. He jerked his hand away. Even if he tried to hide it, he felt his eyes narrow at her stifled giggles. Within a moment of being freed she attempted to reach for him again. Ulquiorra almost sighed again at her childish behavior, instead grabbing her chin to focus her attention on something besides kissing for a few seconds. She whined in response, glaring at him for a moment before she knitted her eyebrows together to behold him with suspicion. Her ability to read his demeanor was uncanny considering he did not emote often, if at all.

"You're going to say something I don't want to hear, aren't you?" Aracelis sighed when he didn't say anything in response. "You are. Wh-what is it?" She averted her eyes, glancing to the side as she could not hang her head as she usually did with his hand preventing her. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You are so quick to blame yourself…" He pointed out to her, hoping she took it as a suggestion to stop. It irritated him.

Her blue eyes slowly focused back onto his face, her expression between sadness and neutrality. "I… I do, huh? I guess I'm just used to being the one who's wrong. The one that's confused and second-guessing everything." She stiffly shrugged. "Apparently I'm not the only one, though." Then her eyes narrowed into a chilling glare that he hadn't seen in a while. "But I suppose I shouldn't be so forgiving of you, since you're a jerk most of the time. Usually _you_ are the one that's doing screwed up crap like pretending you don't care for me after staying to _comfort_ me and allowing Clematis to escape. That's not _rational,"_ she growled. She grabbed his wrist, yanking his hand off her chin in sheer anger. He just stared at her in awe. He'd finally made her snap. Good. Rage was more befitting of a hollow than timidity. It was more her.

"And the _only_ thing that's making me so annoyingly confused and _coy_ is how _you_ behave, constantly giving out mixed signals because god forbid you admit you care about something," she continued, throwing her hands to her sides before placing them on her hips. "It makes it very hard to tell what the hell you want. Half the time I don't know if you want to kill me or grope me! Then you get annoyed because _I_ won't say what _I_ want. I'm trying so damn hard to please you, but this is what I get every time... Seriously, you're driving me insane," she griped before falling silent, her eye still twitching with anger.

Bizarrely he wanted this. He wanted her to be angry with him. He wanted her to stand up to him, to demand him to behave in a manner more congruent to what she believed he actually felt towards her rather than the decorum of his rationality. _This_ was the hollow that had constantly beat him into the ground, that rampaged in fits of petty rage, and that tormented her enemies before ruthlessly tearing them apart. He _missed_ this side of her more than he thought. He truly did enjoy her temper. She wasn't weak. The moments she belittled herself, they were undeserved and irrational. She needn't put up with his damn indecision without showing her distaste for it. He didn't want her to be his doormat.

"So, why don't you further ruin the moment and say whatever the hell it is you want to say, Ulquiorra," she muttered, her tone seeped in bitterness. "I'm sure it will be enlightening. You going to deny everything that happened to this point? Say it doesn't matter?" For a second her glare faltered and she quietly added, "I really hoped you weren't messing with me for once… Please don't say you hadn't meant any of it or that it hadn't mattered."

As he thought, allowing things to go so far had been a mistake. He shouldn't have allowed her to kiss him a second time. He shouldn't have done it first either. She thought it was all an elaborate trick on his part to reach some end. She always did hate when he told her something didn't matter. Perhaps she would despise him enough to abandon him finally. Clearly his actions brought her distress. Her affection for him, it caused her to care far too deeply for him. Her devotion... he didn't understand it. Why would she forgo her own happiness to follow after him in vain hopes of somehow making him happy? He certainly had done nothing to deserve this treatment. Perhaps she would grow bored of him if he showed her that he would not change. That no matter what she did, their relationship would never be what she wanted because he was incapable of returning whatever it was she felt for him. Even if some of her more human qualities had influenced him, they would never be the same. The concept of having a human heart, it was not something obtainable for him. For her perhaps, but never him.

"Ulquiorra?" Aracelis called softly, her expression once more going from anger to worry. How she so easily switched between emotions, he didn't understand. Earlier it had been the same. When he asked why she didn't agree to Clematis sharing his memories, she had lost most of her anger to look at him with understanding. Now was the same. Whatever she saw in his eyes while he thought worried her. She reached out to catch the bottom of his sleeve, unsure of he would allow her to actually touch him. She tried to offer him comfort like it were the simplest thing in the world…

"Forget any fantasies you may have about being in a romantic relationship with me. I feel…" He hesitated, unable to say he felt nothing for her. She wouldn't have believed him anyway. "I do not feel the same. This would be purely physical in nature. If you desire something more, you need not take this any further."

"Ulquiorra, what are-"

"This is not something I wish to debate."

She fell silent, her attention returning to the floor as she considered what she wished to do. Even then, she chose not to let go of his sleeve, clutching the bit of fabric tightly between her fingers. Eventually she let out a long sigh, grumbling "You would try to make our first kiss our last…" She glanced back up at him, appearing tired with his behavior. "You're so frustrating, Ulquiorra. You're… You're lying anyway. Otherwise you wouldn't have said anything at all. You're trying to justify wanting to be close by making excuses," she mumbled, her accuracy still astounding. This _was_ an excuse. Saying he only wished to use her for her body was indefinitely easier than admitting to feeling any of these ridiculous human emotions she caused him. He could not deny her accusations at all. Even though she was right, and she were amazingly good at guessing his motives, she wouldn't truly believe herself. She doubted herself too much. She could observe something over and over again, and she'd never believe it until someone else confirmed it was true as well. Particularly when it came to him.

Before giving an answer, she stepped forward, sneaking her arms underneath his as she nuzzled her face into of his neck. He stood stiffly, not wanting her to mistakenly believe he would go back on what he had just said. However, he never moved to push her away either. Why she sought comfort from the thing causing her pain remained a mystery.

"Just… before I agree to this, can you do something for me? Just one thing, okay?"

He didn't respond immediately, unsure if he should agree. When he said he did not wish to debate this, he meant that he wouldn't be making any compromises. He had just wanted another yes or no. "That depends on your request," he conceded.

"Can you…" She sighed, her hold tightening briefly. "Can you tell me you care? Just once? Say it one time, and I'll never ask you to do it ever again. We can continue on however you'd like, no discussions about anything like this unless you want to." As she paused, she lifted her head up from his neck, choosing to instead press her cheek to his to avoid his stare. "Please?"

She still didn't believe he did. Even after he went out of his way to help her, to protect her, to comfort her, and to show her affection, she didn't have the confidence in her own observations to believe he cared without him telling her so. He really shouldn't tell her. It didn't matter if he cared for her at all because it would never be as much as she did for him. Giving her false hope, it would be cruel. Even he recognized that. No. No, he shouldn't even be considering this. He had no need to tell her. He wanted her to hate him, didn't he? But then she would be upset again… He despised that she could manage to confuse him to such a degree. Being so indecisive, it was weak and foolish in every regard. The damn-

"Ulquiorra," she whispered, leaning back again, no longer embracing him. She gave a small, forced smile to attempt to hide the miserable look in her eyes. After a moment, she hesitantly raised her hand to his cheek, her other resting on his shoulder. "You know that either way I won't leave you, right? Even… even if it's a lie, just tell me you care. So, even if it's really stupid of me to want this, just please say it."

In a rare moment, he broke eye contact with her. "I…" He glanced back at her to see hope already glittering in her eyes. Certainly he could find another way to make her hate him… She would lose interest eventually if he didn't meet her expectations, right? Caring simply wasn't enough to sustain what she wanted. Of course, when he became a Vasto Lorde he had thought the same. He had been unable to respond to her, and that had been her reason for being with him, but she never did intentionally leave him. Did he really want to risk this ending like the last time though? She had grown weaker, the parasite able to kill her if something else didn't first. She would die. Even if she didn't want to leave him, she would if she ended up killed in the war or by the parasite or by him trying to remove the parasite. If he lost her again… He wasn't sure if he would repeat what had happened the last time.

"I care about you," he finally said. If it were just once… One time wouldn't hurt. And he would protect her; he wouldn't let her die. He was the Fourth Espada. The fourth strongest hollow in all of Hueco Mundo- if not the strongest, as for some time he had been contemplating something he had yet to actually test; it was perhaps time to investigate that hypothesis. He could surely keep one damn woman alive. How foolish he was, thinking the past mattered like he were Aracelis. No, he had been weak then. The circumstances had changed.

"Thank you," she said, a genuine smile across her face. Aracelis gave him another one sided embrace. As she stepped back, however, she gave him a peck on the cheek. He looked at her blankly, not expecting her affections so soon. "I can do that, right? If I decide I want to touch you, I can now, right? I mean within reason of course. I won't be throwing myself at you in public, or if you tell me to leave you alone I will. You'd get the same privileges with me, too." She appeared cheerful again. Her moods, he just…

"I don't understand." She had gone from upset to this so quickly, even for her. Had she forgiven him so easily? He certainly didn't deserve her forgiveness after once more denying her what she actually wanted. "Why are you so accepting of this?"

Aracelis sighed, losing her grin to seriousness. "I figure that once you're ready to talk about it, you will. I mean, this will work for now. It's an improvement at least." She gave a nervous smile. "I was serious when I said I wanted you. In all honesty," she said, glancing away, her face flushed a bit again, "I think that screwing around with would keep me occupied and distracted for a while. I, ah, really wanted to for a while now… You're pretty attractive after all." After awkwardly giggling a few times, she looked back at him. She leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips to his. She smiled happily when he didn't pull away. "And, well, you're letting me show you affection too, so I'm happy to be doing that much."

He stared at her wordlessly. He knew he shouldn't be showing her affection… It made her more attached to him already. But, if that kept her from wanting to talk about some sort of relationship, then he supposed that was acceptable for the time being. And he did enjoy her kisses thus far and would be interested in continuing to receive them as well as initiate some other activities…

"I suppose this is an acceptable arrangement." How she managed to sway him into compromising with her remained to be seen. He would probably regret giving her permission to do whatever whenever she felt like it. Of course, she had said he got the same privilege.

Somewhat impulsively he raised his hand to caress her cheek. Her blush had yet to fade, making her skin warmer than usual as she leaned her head into his hand. He wondered how much she would blush if he did something more than just touch her face. Perhaps he should return her the attention she gave him previously. He let his hand slip off her face to her neck before slowly dragging his fingers from the base of her throat to her collarbone and to the edge of her hollow hole. His palm rested between her breasts. The thought of removing her shirt to feel her soft skin was quite tempting…

"Ulquiorra," she murmured. "You better not be teasing me."

He would have said no if he thought they could continue this here. No, much like any other time, the stupid cat decided to interrupt. "I am," he stated flatly, dropping his arm back to his side. "The Sixth has returned and has regrettably chosen this entrance to leave by."

"Really?" Aracelis rolled her eyes. Then she suddenly frowned. "He's… He's alone. I don't," she paused, blankly staring forward. "I don't sense any of his Fracción. They must have all died, huh?"

"It appears so." He hadn't been paying much mind earlier, but losing all of his Fracción in an unauthorized outing had surely earned Grimmjow quite a punishment. Tousen, with how strongly he valued justice and his loyalty to Aizen, had likely given Grimmjow a steep reprimand for his actions if Aizen allowed.

"I guess it's time to leave then." Aracelis stepped around him, his eyes following her as she moved towards the door. Before she had a chance to open it, he quickly went after her. She didn't have a chance to turn and question him as he began combing through her hair to untangle what he had done earlier. "Jeez, how bad did you mess it up?" she asked in mock annoyance, not really appearing to care. In fact he was sure she held back a laugh. Once there was some order he stepped back, and Aracelis took that as her cue to open the door and walk back into the hall.

Blood still covered the ground, a few of the servants working towards the start of Clematis's trail. One shrieked as Grimmjow trudged past them. Aracelis took a step closer to the wall, hiding in his shadow. If it weren't for the scowl, he would have thought she were scared. No, Aracelis just decided that she wanted him to deal with Grimmjow should he try to take his anger out on someone. Didn't stop her from curiously peeking around him, though.

Aracelis gasped when Grimmjow turned the corner. The Sixth- or, in his condition, the former Sixth- stalked down the hall, his left arm missing and chest scarred. The majority of the spiritual pressure still clinging to him was that of Kurosaki's. Whatever attack had been used, he had not witnessed it when he had gone to the human world. It was interesting that the kid could manage to injure Grimmjow to such a degree.

"The hell you lookin' at?" Grimmjow barked as he walked by, glaring but obviously still in pain from his injuries.

Ulquiorra and Aracelis didn't respond. Instead they both chose to just watch the injured, likely demoted Espada walk away in shame. Ulquiorra found the punishment suitable enough. This would be more demeaning to Grimmjow than being killed. Leaving him alive and in such pathetic condition would break his pride.

"Damn," Aracelis mumbled once the cat was out of earshot. "He's in rough shape. Did that Ichigo kid really do all that?"

"Tousen severed his arm," Ulquiorra corrected, knowing who had gone after Grimmjow. Minute traces remained behind to confirm that as well. Aracelis hadn't enough time to pick that out, or wasn't familiar enough with either soul reaper to pick it out as separate from Kurosaki's.

"S-so that was his punishment for leaving?" Aracelis's voice raised a bit in both anger and fear. "Having his arm cut off? He's not going to grow that back like we would… I don't like him at all, but that's…" She quieted for a moment, biting her lip. "I guess that's what happens when you disobey Lord Aizen…"

She did not hide her distaste for the soul reapers effectively. He could tell that she detested Aizen the most. Why she hadn't taken the opportunity to escape Las Noches when he sent her after Grimmjow, he didn't understand. It was unlikely that they would put in the effort to hunt down one Arrancar that could hide their presence so well. She could have left, but she came back. He… He figured she only returned because of him. Such a foolish woman.

"Aracelis," he began, her attention immediately focused on him. "I have some matters to attend to. I will escort you back to our quarters, and I expect you to remain there until I return." He did not want her getting into more trouble while he was gone. Clematis would be recovering for at least a few days, as the creature had shown an unfortunate preference for regeneration over power. Her associates could still prove a nuisance should they all choose to go after Aracelis. "If you require something to entertain yourself with, you may fetch the books from my desk to continue reading from." She nodded, not showing signs of being opposed to his orders. She would be content in reading while he was away. "Follow," he said, already walking past her to the entrance.

He would be gone for a few hours at most. With everything that just occurred, this would be the best time for him to leave Las Noches without risking either Aracelis's safety or displeasing Aizen. She wouldn't have Clematis after her. Aizen had not planned on making any moves at the time and Grimmjow had been dealt with. Ulquiorra would not be missed. There would be no more distractions keeping him from confirming how much the tree had reformed and if he would be able to use its power in the manner he thought possible.

When he got back he could continue what he started with Aracelis. Unless she came to her senses while he was gone, of course. Until then he did not need further distractions.

* * *

 **A/N- Wow, was that a long chapter, huh? Not going to lie, I didn't edit this as much as usual because it was so long. So much happened too. I hope everything with Aizen's zanpakuto made sense because I was sorta reaching in saying that Ulquiorra had an idea of how it worked. Idk. Ulquiorra just needed a starting point and that's what Clematis gave him- he would know that this is why Aracelis had no idea what her sword was named as well, just can't tell her because she might go after Aizen or the parasite might get upset.**

 **With his past, I know I didn't mention him feeling pain when his mask had broken, but that had been a small fragment and not the whole deal that followed. Then he simply became almost one with the tree, never moving enough to cause further pain from the thorns buried in him. He was also very peeved that she thought he would be doing anything with Clematis, only to find out she was blaming herself for it all. And now he's off to test something while he can.**

 **Aracelis is recognizing she likes him quite a bit more than she thought, too. She is aware that he is doing most of this because he is confused himself, but also isn't sure she can believe her intuition being right about him liking her (Mirro never missing a chance to make matters worse because he knows how to upset her). She just wants his love and he wants her to hate him enough to leave him. They're both very hesitant about this- and I'll tell you now, I had fun making backstories for these two as humans. Got a month til Ichigo and crew arrive, but will not be going over every day of it. A few chapters at most, then gotta go pick up Orihime. Clematis and co are also now laying low for a bit, seeing as giggles is injured.**

 **Thank you to DOMoore93, Coranthium, and Melody of Black and White for favoriting and following! Also thank you to everyone reading!**

 **Sissy** **\- Hehe, cliffhangers; the author's joy and the readers' bane. Ulquiorra wouldn't be kissing someone else, he's still reeling from liking Aracelis enough to consider affection tolerable. As silly as Aracelis is, she understood that much; she just didn't think he would kiss her either. And do they kiss soon? How was three times in one chapter!? I'd, ah, been waiting to get to this chapter. Hope you enjoyed them finally getting a happy-ish moment. Ulquiorra always has to ruin it somehow though. Clematis losing a few vines is always a fun time; I like writing her because she is such a pain (and she knows quite a deal of fun things that she can spout off; Ulquiorra might not admit something but Clematis will sure as hell say it). And it's always nice to hear people are excited for an update and what's been going on, even if it's not every chapter because I know people are busy. So, yep! Thanks for reviewing again and I hope this was worth the little cliffhanger last time!**

 **The Shy Scorpio** **\- Haha, wow, you saw a lot of stuff happen in those 3 chapters, huh? Glad you think they played into the story well, and that I didn't stick to the expected. And they are confusing, aren't they? I hope the confusion does come from Aracelis's pov and not just some meh storytelling, because she does doubt that he cares for her and that he is indifferent towards her which affects how she reads his reactions, while Ulquiorra's over in denial central because he loves her and doesn't know what to do other than outwardly pretend that he doesn't (further confusing Aracelis). I totally get that switching between their pov's either for chapters or sections could really give out mixed signals about how either feels for the other. They're a mess. I have about 2 pages of outline dedicated to who's feeling what and why tbh. Hopefully it'll come together well in the story. And thanks for reviewing again! I totally get being away from the internet and then reading a few chapters as a batch; I do that a lot myself. So, yep, glad you're enjoying the story still, that's always nice to hear!**

 **thestormwriter123** **\- He didn't leave at least! Even if that had been the rational, Ulquiorra thing to do. Instead he didn't want to leave her upset, yet he isn't exactly the best at offering kind words of comfort either. He's trying at least. If anything, he's more distraught than her about this loving someone nonsense. Hope that interesting development didn't disappoint, lol. Thanks for reviewing again!**

 **haipa-chan** **\- Yeah, Nnoitra is awful isn't he? I really enjoyed his battle with Kenpachi and thought his sword release was neat though, so I decided I had use for him. Glad I captured his crap personality. And Clematis is an annoying weed that unfortunately keeps cropping up; the only reason she's still alive is that Ulquiorra cares more about helping Aracelis than how irritating Clematis is- she does have a lot of information and he knows it, so he would rather get that out of her before running her through. And Clematis knows this too, hence why she is bold enough to tease them, although she certainly knows she is on the precipice of death every time she's near the two- but can at least sorta play their emotions and hope to get away at least** _ **alive**_ **. And I know! That was such a terrible cliché I used, lol! But it got Ulquiorra (who actually did believe she thought he had been kissing Clematis despite all the evidence to the contrary) into considering kissing her since it seemed so important. Aracelis was just panicked because 'oh crap I felt jealous even though I knew it was nothing and I think I love him, which is terrible because he'll hate it.' She definitely was hard on herself for thinking he may have kissed Clematis for even a second because it was** _ **so**_ **dumb to think that. Hopefully that somewhat excuses the use of that** _ **horrid**_ **cliché's premise to set this up. And, I mean, they're kissing now at least. I'm sorry you weren't feeling well! Don't think you're obligated to review every time; I mean, I'm happy you do, but still if you're busy I'd understand! And I was editing when you reviewed, so the update came in the real near future. So thank you for reviewing again and sticking around!**


	25. Chapter 25- Attraction

Aracelis stared at the white ceiling while absentmindedly tapping her fingers on the bed. She came here to be entertained, but of course Ulquiorra kept reading on the opposite side of the room, settled into his chair like he had been for the past few _hours_. And, when he finished a book, he would just grab another from a convenient end table beside him. No reason to come bother her. For whatever reason he had been cooped up in his room the last day or so, reading or staring into space in thought if she had to guess. She had been bored so she decided to pay a visit to him instead of waiting around for him to come to her. Of course, when she showed up outside his door, politely knocking and asking permission to come in, she didn't even get acknowledged. She then just told him if he didn't respond she was coming in anyway. Which she did. He didn't seem to care so she laid on his bed only to be ignored in every way.

Other than that, the last week had been nice. Clematis stayed in her hole- literally, the group was in an underground section on the edge of Las Noches. Never saw nor heard from the obnoxious weed since. Aracelis hadn't had anybody else attempt to murder her, which was always nice. Aracelis and Ulquiorra had been enjoying each other's company for the most part, not grading on each other's nerves to quite the degree they had been before kissing. No, they were as peaceful as two hollows could be. She found the calm from their weird 'more open terms yet not at the same time' agreement to be working. He hadn't seemed to be lying when he told her he cared, so she was happy enough hearing it once for the time being- she was fairly certain that he would adjust to the idea eventually. As upsetting as it was to hear him ban all discussion of feelings she may have for him, she understood it. He didn't want to deal with her emotions right now, just screw around with no pressure to commit or to admit to anything. If there was one thing Aracelis understood, it was being hesitant to admit things; she was still fighting with admitting to herself just how much she liked him after all.

Surprisingly, he hadn't really made a move to sleep with her yet. Sure, the other day they spent more than an hour making out and feeling each other up- with clothes on still, much to her disappointment- but nothing beyond that. At least the make-out sessions kept her busy. Aracelis felt a smile trying to form on her face. He was really affectionate. She didn't expect him to be, honestly. Sure, she ended up being the one to initiate things a lot of the time, but he certainly enjoyed himself once they got going. He could be so gentle and tender with his caresses and kisses, but also had moments where he was just as needy as her like pulling her into him and holding her against the wall while passionately kissing her. The way his lips felt against hers… It felt damn good. Then there was the way his tongue felt gliding over hers, or, better, on her skin. Now that, that drove her insane. His teeth grazing her neck had its appeal too. Damn was she thrilled that he allowed her to show affection towards him, let alone have him _return_ it.

And how adorable he was when he got flustered! The light tinge of pink on his face never ceased to make her smile. _Cute_ wasn't a word she ever thought to use to describe Ulquiorra without it being a teasing remark she hadn't meant. He could just be so adorable! Sometimes she surprised him and he would tense up, blush, and his pupils would constrict so he had no way to hide his reaction. The best had been when they were making out and he had his hand under her shirt, resting on ribcage just below her breast, teasing her. She decided to grope him and the moment her hand was on his backside he froze. Of course she had stopped and asked if she had gone too far but he managed to state 'no' after a few seconds of silence while he collected himself so he could try to play it off. As soon as he had said it didn't bother him she had her hand back on him. A few more times after that too. So muscular and firm…

' _You are disgusting…'_ Instinct cut in again, absolutely repulsed with her line of thought.

Aracelis had lost count of how many times she's heard that exact sentence in the last week.

 _It's because you are. Listening to you consider what'll you do for him is vile. I'm grateful that I can divorce my senses from yours. If I had to actually_ _ **feel**_ _him on you I'd claw my way out your damn skull to kill you two revolting cretins for such indecency._

Apparently the voice found it all very annoying and depraved that she would be, as instinct put it once, 'fornicating like a whore for this bastard.' Instinct was really fond of that word suddenly. She really despised the damn voice to the point she began trying to not respond to it at all. Not giving the attention it was seeking from her would work better than her last attempt to disgust it even more by thinking what she'd like to do with Ulquiorra. The mental screaming match that resulted gave her a nasty headache. She'd managed to make it more annoyed with her.

 _That's because this will inevitably get us killed, idiot! After he is done using your sorry body he'll toss you aside like the trash you are. You can't actually believe he likes you beyond using you for sex. That's all you've ever been worth: using. And if you think you'll be left alive afterwards, you are absolutely wrong. You're his plaything to experiment with. He wouldn't let you live to tell all the disgusting things you will have done for him by then. How many times you will have been on your knees to-_

'Shut. Up.' She mentally hissed, grabbing the blanket under her in a tight fist, hearing the fabric beginning to tear. She restrained herself. In her room she might have sent off a cero, but this wasn't her room to wreck in any way. Unless it happened while they were screwing around.

' _You are disgusting!'_ instinct screeched again. ' _You will not be fornicating with this damn bastard! I can't believe that he wants you to begin with, you useless, foolish, filthy whore!'_

Instinct could be so damn obnoxious when she got bored. It was _so_ much easier to ignore when she was doing something more involved. Like Ulquiorra.

 _One more word about fu-_

So, for now, she would just talk over it until it got bored and left her alone. If it didn't, then it could deal with her fooling around with him. Because she would. She would go over there and sit on his damn lap until he gave her the attention she wanted. Instinct wouldn't want to stick around for that. Just needed a topic to start with…

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she began, rolling onto her side to look at him. "Where'd you go the other day?" This happened to be the first thing to pop into her head because she really did wonder where he had disappeared to after Grimmjow returned from his little misadventure. Ulquiorra had taken her back to their quarters, and then promptly left Las Noches in its entirety. She honestly had no idea where he would go, or why, and the other time she'd asked she got her favorite response: complete denial.

"Nowhere important," he said, not looking away from the book, his eyes still scanning the page. The exact thing he told her last time. He had to have left for a reason, and an important one at that. Not being at Aizen's beck and call for even a second was something Ulquiorra wouldn't take lightly.

 _Are you trying to ignore me, you ingrate? How dare you think that-_

'Different topic,' she inwardly panicked, not wanting to hear more of instinct's tirade against everything she enjoyed.

"Fine," she muttered, dismissing her first question. "Then… I know, what do you think of Harribel? I think she's very pretty," Aracelis said honestly, ready to just ramble to herself until Ulquiorra found something to comment on. "Do you think so too?"

"I do not care to notice such inconsequential things." He paused to turn the page, glancing up for a second to probably gauge her reaction. "Is there a reason for you asking such a trivial question?"

She grinned. He found it interesting enough to respond to at least. "No, not really. I was just curious if you thought she was pretty too. What about her Fracción? They're sort of annoying, but pretty. I think Sung-Sun is attractive, just a little too smug and her know-it-all attitude is obnoxious. Mila-Rose and Apacci aren't bad looking either, just not as smart as Sung-Sun. And louder."

He lowered the book a fraction, actually looking at her now with a bit of curiosity. "I find it odd you find me attractive when you solely listed women."

Aracelis laughed a few times. "I wasn't teasing you or anything, Ulquiorra." Assuming he took it as a jab at him looking a bit effeminate. Because he most certainly did. He had longer hair, a slender build, large eyes, and was on the short side. He was very pretty in her opinion, which she of course found attractive- his muscles were a grand bonus. He likely didn't care about being called such, as appearances were fairly trivial to hollows and therefore him, it's just she didn't want him comparing her to anyone that may have tried to use it as insult towards him. Especially because Nnoitra seemed the type to say something like that. The last thing she wanted was to be compared to that raving lunatic. "I just thought they were all pretty, and they're the only hollows I've met more than once. Well, and aside from you, I don't really like any of the men here." She shrugged, that the truth of the situation. Out of the people she was acquainted with, he happened to be the only guy she thought of as attractive in appearance and personality. His attention remained on her, so she decided to keep going on this tangent since he found it interesting enough to keep listening.

"I mean, I guess Starrk's got that roguish, handsome look to him and doesn't seem obnoxious or anything, but he also seems like he would fall asleep instead of listening to me ramble like this. And Grimmjow," she grumbled, "He looks good but has the most unfortunate personality ever. So cocky and arrogant and brash and clearly doesn't think things through at all. He got all of his allies killed because of his own vanity. That's truly awful." He was their leader. He knew better than to go against Aizen's orders, or Ulquiorra's authority over him, and yet he still did because he wanted to prove a foolish point to boost his own ego. She felt sorry for his Fracción, being led to their deaths by such an absolute idiot.

"Forget Aaroniero, Nnoitra, Yammy, and Baraggan." She grimaced at the thought of the four. "They're all hideous in more ways than one." Seriously, Aaroniero's one redeeming trait was when she overheard him discussing- with himself- the idea of going after Clematis, her ability useful in combination with his apparent ability to create illusions. The only reason he hadn't was the plant apparently knew better and avoided him. Aracelis wished the plant would do the same with her and Ulquiorra. Otherwise the twin headed hollow in a fish tank who absorbed others for their abilities was revolting. Nnoitra freaked her out for obvious reasons. He had a strangely lanky body, a creepy smile, and his vulgarity was on par with instinct. Not to mention the guy happened to be so stupid that Clematis could trick him into attacking her just because the fool wanted to fight Ulquiorra- an equally stupid thing to do. Calling Yammy stupid was an understatement. He certainly wasn't much to look at either. The old 'king' Baraggan had pissed her off one to many times, trying to get her to join his stupid army on _three_ occasions. Didn't matter if she had killed a number of his underlings or just had run away, Baraggan had been set on having her join his little army of wimps. Or he had been bored and thought of her as something to entertain him before he finished her off for her disobedience. His Fracción were just as bad as him, the one with black hair and a saber-toothed skull on his head the one that shot her the most scowls of the bunch. The blond guy with a full mask over his face was the only one she remembered fighting before, so saber-tooth's anger with her didn't make sense. She swore she had never even sensed his spiritual pressure before. Stranger, Baraggan and saber-tooth also sent a number of dirty looks at Ulquiorra. That would be something to ask later.

"That Zommari guy," she continued, narrowing her eyes, "I guess I don't really have a reason for not liking him. He's quiet. Hasn't tried to kill me. He doesn't do much at all. Just something seems… _off_ about him." She couldn't explain it, but the guy had a crazy look in his eyes. Like he was deeply obsessed with something. Not knowing what that obsession happened to be unsettled her greatly. She made a habit of avoiding him after first crossing paths with him a while back when she got lost after disciplining a few servants. He had been civil and said only a few words, but that look had gotten to her.

"And I guess that Szayelaporro is not horrendous to look at and clearly intelligent, but he is a completely creepy, condescending prick, and I never want him near me _ever_ again." Damn did that weird scientist freak her out. Experimenting on hollows, turning them into whatever the hell his Fracción were. Waking up with that creep near her had been nightmare material. "Seriously, that guy was on a whole new level of weird."

"Your encounter had not been a pleasant one, I see," Ulquiorra commented off-handedly. Too bad responding at all showed his interest in the matter. He seemed to notice her raise her eyebrow at him in a 'what do you want to know?' manner. "Did he give a reason to him not being allowed to take you as his Fracción?"

"Hmm." She stared at the ground for a few seconds with her eyebrows furrowed, picking out what would have been odd in the brief conversation they had. At the time it all had been strange because she had known _nothing_ about the changes in Hueco Mundo. "He said something about Lord Aizen pawning me off on someone for entertainment right after calling me stupid and annoying… And something about having interesting defects, then later maybe dissecting me for study." That was all that had stood out to her. Man, she forgot how insufferable the scientist had been. She just hadn't thought about it since then because reuniting with Ulquiorra was clearly more important than remembering her exchange with the Eighth.

' _You_ _ **are**_ _defective_ ,' instinct muttered, showing it was still around to be heard.

Ulquiorra seemed to ponder her response for a bit, but never did say anything. Aracelis pouted. He had a reason in asking. One he wouldn't share, just like a lot of other things pertaining to her. At least he found it odd that Aizen didn't want the crazed scientist experimenting on her. It's not like Aizen had any reason to be 'nice' to her considering she hated the guy day one. Hell, had she been conscious when the soul reaper apparently 'saved' her, she would have fought him right then. "Anyway," she mumbled, ready to keep talking least instinct retake her full attention, "so that's what I think. To me, you and Harribel are the best looking and have the best personalities of the bunch."

"Perhaps you should pursue Harribel instead," Ulquiorra stated plainly, arm moving to raise his book back up so he could bury his face into it and ignore her again. Aracelis wouldn't have that.

"Probably," she admitted, catching his attention again by agreeing with him. He kept doing this, saying to leave him when she disliked something he did or said. Instead of dealing with her, he would rather push her off on someone else. He acted like this entire affair was a burden, even when she agreed to his terms. He kissed her first, too. He started this. If he hadn't she would have continued trying to hide that she liked him, fearing he would reject her if she kept acting the way she did. That fear wasn't entirely gone, though…

"No," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I like your personality a lot more than hers, Ulquiorra. Harribel holds too much value on life, because seriously, not everyone is worth keeping alive. You get that. If it's worthless, than it's dead. I also like that you're quiet, since I like to ramble so often, but you still do respond when you're interested. I like talking with you. You're also really smart and analytical. Seriously, you are terrifying in battle because of that. You figure out fighting patterns in seconds. You deconstruct entire techniques in one look, making them ineffective. Not to mention you're so damn strong." She paused, smiling fondly at him. "I'm, I guess, proud of how powerful you became since I watched you go from getting pulverized by me to incomprehensibly stronger than me." Her grin only grew when his eyes regarded her in questioning manner. That's what she got for being proud that he could destroy her instead of the more sensible, hollow line of thought of being fearful of someone more powerful. "You're also loyal to a fault. Honestly, it's an admirable trait, but I still think you're taking things a bit too far with…." She trailed off, not wanting him to lecture her about her obvious dislike of Aizen. He understood what she meant, and, as expected, he brushed it off while keeping his face utterly devoid of expression because it irritated him. How willingly he would lay down his life for that soul reaper prick really bothered her. Above all, she feared he might really do it. That thought terrified her. She couldn't stop him from it, and that made her feel absolutely helpless. Losing him once, it hadn't made it any easier to accept that he may die. It would devastate her all over again. Probably worse with how she felt for him now…

"You are a strange woman," he said after a moment of silence.

She could have gone on, but figured he hadn't wished for a dissertation on why she liked him so much. She hadn't gotten to liking how calm he was compared to her, or how much control he had compared to her, or a lot of things really. Overall, she was just glad that they could return to talking like this. When they'd been at each other's throats, they missed out on miscellaneous conversations on random topics. That had been a major loss considering this was what had started and maintained their strange friendship since the beginning. Even when he had lost the ability to verbally respond, he had listened- well, lip-read- to her ramble and gave some feedback through his eyes or small gestures. He had been trying to the best of his ability. She wouldn't have left him, even if he hadn't been trying. How miserable he appeared then...

Aracelis frowned for a second, remembering the look his eyes held at that time. He seemed absolutely tormented and depressed by his situation, which she understood, but still… He had acted so differently. Sticking to her side, never letting her out of his sight if he could help it. He had even been the one to find her so he could follow her around like he did. He had just shown up while she slept and never left her alone again. She had no idea what had been going through his head, but his eyes really held misery as he stared at her.

What a depressing line of thought, she decided, not wanting to go back to that.

"So, there really aren't a lot of female Arrancar, huh?" she stated, trying to shove her last thoughts to the dark recess they crawled out. "I mean, there's Harribel and her group, infernal weed and her two cronies, that one Privaron, Lord Aizen's two worshipers, and a handful of servants. Was it always like this? I mean, weren't there more in the Espada at any point or…?" She was mainly just curious what Las Noches had been like before she came. Might as well keep bothering him by trying to see what kind of women he had been interested in. She was curious why he decided he liked her, especially when he denied any sort of attraction to everyone else. Him liking _just_ her like this, she didn't understand. If he saw her as attractive enough to want to sleep with, than he had to see physical appeal to some degree in others, right? It was just something he often ignored because it was insignificant to him. Okay, she just wondered if he had a type. She obviously did. That became quite apparent when she began listing what she thought about the other Espada and Fracción…

"The former third, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck," he stated flatly after a few seconds of silence. "Considering she also enjoyed chattering incessantly at me, you would have found the odd woman's company enjoyable." If she hadn't been laying on her side, Aracelis would have leaned forward at his remark. He seemed to catch the overly interested look she had and blinked slowly- she was beginning to equate this to the same as rolling his eyes in a more subtle manner. "She had attempted to befriend me, as she had a role in my recruitment and perhaps felt she was responsible for me. Her exuberance had been annoying."

Two sentences of explanation had been all he was willing to offer. Aracelis found it sort ironic that he found someone trying to befriend him annoying. She'd done the same damn thing, but somehow managed to be more or less successful in her endeavors. Maybe that's why he mentioned that she would have liked this Nelliel. They both liked bothering him. "What happened to her?" She wasn't a Privaron, so she was probably dead. Killed by someone, most likely. Hollows did enjoy the murder thing. Ulquiorra hopefully hadn't killed her for trying to be friendly… That thought made Aracelis a little nervous.

"She disappeared." At his words, Aracelis raised an eyebrow. Disappeared? Did she run away from Las Noches or something? "I suspect that Nnoitra had a part in her disappearance, as he detested Nelliel," he added, easily guessing where her mind went.

"That's…" Aracelis bit her lip, knowing that Nnoitra would have killed her if she hadn't had help. The former third had somehow lost to him, so she certainly had no chance in hell. "That's too bad. I bet she would have been interesting to talk to if you think we would have gotten along. Guess I see why you wouldn't want me near Nnoitra either. I'll really try to avoid him, like I had been, so I don't bother you to rescue me."

"That is advisable," he said, returning his attention to his book without giving her an opportunity to interrupt this time.

She just watched him, not really having much else to do. Instinct had gotten bored and apparently decided not to torment her for a bit too. Her threat apparently worked. So, Aracelis really could just look at Ulquiorra to her non-existent heart's content. She always found him an oddly beautiful hollow, different from most others with his pure white coloring. He looked so… graceful? That was the word. A lethal predator that could gracefully slash apart enemies on the ground or in the air. If anything he only grew more deadly and gorgeous when he became an Arrancar. She certainly missed seeing him in the moonlight, though. The glaring lights of the fake sky in Las Noches didn't make his features glow like the pale light of the moon did.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she said again after sitting in silence for a time. "What do you find attractive about me?" She didn't really understand why he was so accommodating with her considering he often acted like she was the single most annoying thing in existence.

"Are you seeking compliments?" He never even looked at her.

"I am." Aracelis forced herself upright to sit with her legs crossed on the bed. Her expression slipped to a glare when he said nothing. "Come on, Ulquiorra. Don't just ignore me," she whined. "If I tell you what I like about you physically, could you do the same?" Him talking about her personality might be asking too much, so physical traits would do. She was just really curious what he had to say. She figured he must like her body considering he had felt her up with the utmost interest and she often caught him looking her over, but hearing him actually tell her would be interesting.

"I do not see the point in that exchange." He flipped the page of his book, eyes scanning the next. "I would rather you come here and show me than merely explain what you like. Perhaps then I would be more willing to do the same." How he remained blank faced while bluntly telling her to come feel him up baffled Aracelis. Her face got warm automatically with the offer. Had he glanced at her, she would have glued her attention on the floor.

"I'm comfy. How about you come here instead?" Teasing her like this… Of course he ignored her, expecting her to give up and go over to him, or he would keep just reading. Either way he'd be happy. Being difficult just because he could… She wasn't horny enough to give into his little game. Not yet, anyway. "Do I need to seduce you into coming here, Ulquiorra?"

Even if he said nothing, he may have well just answered yes when he glanced up from his book at the suggestion. She would find a way to get him over to her. Just how to do that… Flustering him would be one way, although she usually ended up equally embarrassed. And if he really did come get her, she supposed she wouldn't mind the physical attention considering they had ignored each other for a day now. Oh, but actually doing what she had planned meant doing something a bit outside her comfort zone. Yet, at the same time, she wouldn't mind if he did see… or touch.

Throwing all caution to the wind, she reached for the front of her shirt, watching him to see what would be a hilarious reaction if she had to guess. The second he heard the zipper slowly being unzipped his eyes stopped scanning the book, not looking away from it however. Aracelis decided she couldn't have that. Once her shirt was unzipped, still held closed with one hand, she grabbed a pillow that happened to have migrated towards her while she flopped around. She slipped her shirt off and held the pillow to her chest after deciding she wasn't willing to part with everything covering her yet- sort of chilly in the marble room, now that she thought about it. He could come take the pillow from her if he really wanted to. After balling the shirt up she chucked it at him.

She couldn't stifle her laughter when it smacked directly into his head, getting caught on his mask's horn. For a second he froze, just sitting there with it over his face. Aracelis was losing her mind. Eventually he slowly set his book onto his lap before lifting the cloth off of his face. He managed to reveal his slightly flushed face as he stared at her shirt in his hand with wide eyes. Then he shifted his attention to her as she giggled. The surprise quickly lost its effect on him when he saw she had covered herself with a pillow. She could hear him sigh in disappointment.

As he folded the shirt in half and laid it across his lap he blandly said, "If you wish this returned, you may come get it from me."

Well, that backfired for her. Aracelis pouted, now without a shirt _and_ Ulquiorra returning to reading. "You're a jerk, you know. And weird. I'm half naked and you'd rather keep reading. Seriously, just come over here." He just wanted her to go over there herself, and didn't want to give in. When he completely ignored her again she figured they'd reached a stalemate in their strange battle of stubbornness.

Aracelis let herself tip until she fell back to the bed on her side. After glaring at him for a bit, she flipped over so her back faced him, not even caring if she was still half undressed. She nuzzled her face into the pillow, holding it to her chest tightly as she scowled at the wall in front of her.

About ten minutes of agonizing silence elapsed before she decided to find another thing to talk about before she got bored and instinct return to complaining; she also hadn't given up hope on seducing Ulquiorra over to her. He might decide to join her if he finished reading his book, or if she became too distracting for him to ignore. She would just start a conversation again to get his attention back on her.

She hadn't asked why Baraggan seemed to dislike Ulquiorra. Every time she'd seen the two in the same room, Baraggan looked more irritable than usual. She could tell it wasn't just her the old man glared at. He'd never mentioned the skeleton pestering him into joining his army either. That meant it had been something while he was in Las Noches. It was probably something along the lines of Ulquiorra being so loyal to Aizen- which would irk the former king and his massive ego. In the off chance it wasn't, she decided it was worth a try to ask him instead of sitting around in absolute boredom.

"Hey," she began, "why does Baraggan look so annoyed by you all the time?"

* * *

 **A/N-**

 ********** **IMPORTANT- I will be changing the rating to M after this chapter!** I just wanted to warn anyone not following the story and guest readers because when searching you will have to select all ratings (I forget to do that sometimes tbh, so I just wanted to give a warning so you don't wonder where the heck the story went or anything). **The change is to accommodate some sexual situations and, hell, might as well add in some more graphic violence while I'm at it (and sweet, sweet unrestrained cuss words perhaps).** **So, next update, rating is changing.** **That is all. **********

 **In other news I'm going on vacation for a week, so…** I don't know if I'll get much done, or be able to upload (for some reason, every hotel I stay at ends up having weak wifi :( That being said, I have half the next chapter done because I was originally going to include it here but wanted to give my warning and hopefully cause less confusion than a sudden change would. **Most likely 3 chapters (two medium length and a long one) to Patros episodes, then into the canon plotline full on- and that actually goes really quickly once it starts.**

 **This chapter ended up being a lot of talking, just to show the two aren't trying to kill each other now that they have a better 'outlet' for their frustrations. Developing their relationship change from the last chapter was fun, as Aracelis' 'flirting' is fairly blunt, and Ulquiorra's teasing I find hilarious to type. And introducing more aspects of their pasts (particularly Ulquiorra's, but Mirro sure likes to hint at Aracelis's). Mirro certainly isn't a happy camper with the situation either.**

 **Thank you to CollegeGirl2018, Ricecake1996 and SilverThornz for favoriting and/or following! Also to the reviewers who faved and followed last chapter as well! Thank you for all the reviews too, as I'm pretty sure that's the most I've gotten on one chapter ever! And to everyone reading, of course, as well!**

 _ **Mirrr**_ **\- Wow, thanks so much! I'm glad to hear you think so highly of this fic. Developing Ulquiorra's character some more certainly is a goal of mine- since he is one of my favorite characters-, especially considering he doesn't have much of a past in canon. Keeping him in character in a romance** _ **is**_ **a task, though, so I'm happy you think it's going well! Thank you for following and favoriting, as well as leaving such a nice review!**

 _ **Sissy**_ **\- Yep, many kisses. And more will certainly be happening between the two- the M rating has been in the making for a while. I certainly have every intention of finishing this, because I am very invested at this point. The story's been in the making for years, too. Can't promise school won't screw with the update schedule though- but then again this what I use to procrastinate homework. So, yes, I won't try to leave you hanging! On-going fics that haven't been updated in eons can wreck a person, huh? So thank you for reviewing once more, I'm happy to hear you're hooked!**

 _ **Lunar Loon**_ **\- Nope! Mirro and Aracelis are natural born enemies at this point. Very rarely do their wants coincide… Thanks for reviewing, happy you're still around!**

 _ **haipa-chan**_ **\- And them interruptions, huh? They'll get to it, just Ulquiorra isn't one to rush things and things never go their way to begin with. I'm glad you approve of how things with Clematis worked out; I figured it would. They really needed to smooch already, it was chapter** _ **24.**_ **That's a lot of build up. And, yeah, Ulquiorra's essentially given up on figuring out why he likes her so much. Last chapter was all about compromise, be it the one he made with Aracelis, or the one he made with himself to explore the physical while denying anything beyond that. So much easier for him to say he's using her for sex than that he cares for her like he does. He needs some help because he is certainly emotionally inept to the extreme. Aracelis is certainly happy though, because she** _ **really**_ **wants him. Any affection she can get from him, sadly, is what she'll settle for right now. And Mirro… He is just sickened at having a front row seat to his worst nightmare. He'd nag Aracelis every chance he gets if she'd listen. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for continuing to review!**

 _ **Thestormwriter123**_ **\- Keeping Ulquiorra in character is hard, and that's why it took this long to get him to even kiss her. I'm glad it worked out well, though! And I've estimated 3 chapter to Patros, so three other events and then one for Patros events, and then onward to fetching Orihime at long last. It'll go fast after that, I think, because I have a lot planned in addition to canon events. (Opposed to the current chapters that will cover the** _ **month**_ **Ichigo is training and the Arrancar are sitting around). It'll be a party. Thank you for reviewing again! I'm glad you're excited!**

 _ **KayB6891**_ ** _-_ Thank you so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and find some humor in it! Poor Grimmy indeed- losing an arm must have been really demeaning, and then he also lost all of his followers, I find it so sad. I didn't quite catch you following this before I posted last chapter, so thank for following as well as reviewing! **

_**The Shy Scorpio**_ ** _-_ Yeah, how sweet of him to stay and comfort her even though he was livid when he thought she may have actually believed he would been kissing the plant monstrosity. Ulquiorra is certainly having some internal conflicts, that's for sure- and yeah, he gave up on why he likes her at all. He'd much rather focus on Aracelis's apparent lack of reasoning for liking him while trying to get her to reject him so he doesn't hurt her because he just doesn't get what's going on with himself or her anymore. He cares a lot more than he'd be willing to admit to. He definitely doesn't like when she hesitates either. Not when he still remembers how she used to boss him around before she got all infatuated with him. Not to mention he really doesn't want to hurt her, and her being scared of him 'pains' him. Aracelis is now in denial because she's scared and doesn't understand why she feels so strongly for him. She just knows those dang humans would probably call it love- a scary word for a hollow. And Mirro… He stayed quiet when Ulquiorra first kissed her, but after that (because the 2** **nd** **half had been Ulquiorra's pov) Mirro's irritation/panicking couldn't be shown. Not that Aracelis heard a word over her thoughts. If Mirro took control, oh man, Ulquiorra would have found some way to destroy him then and there. Parasite-y was awful this chapter though. I'm really happy my characterizations and development appear to be working as planned, because a lot of your points were what I was trying to show. Thank you for the lovely review!**


	26. Chapter 26- Mutual Desires

"Hey," Aracelis asked quietly, breaking the silence, "why does Baraggan look so annoyed by you all the time?"

Ulquiorra stopped reading midsentence, his grip on the book subconsciously tightening. She… she really didn't remember. He already concluded such, but her confirming it… He didn't know what to think about that fact. Resentment? Anger? He could not find a name for whatever it was he felt towards her forgetful nature. Clearly it was better that she didn't remember, yet he still felt bothered.

Baraggan, as well as Ggio, their distaste of him had been entirely her fault.

* * *

 _He sensed her spiritual pressure nearby, her fighting a number of others of varying degrees of strength. Even over the great distance he could see the glow of cero fire on the horizon. He had grown curious enough to go investigate who the woman decided to fight in such a display. It's not like he had much else he could do anyway… With how he lost so many senses and no longer needed to feed, he had no purpose. Finding the strange hollow and watching her battle seemed a worthy distraction._

 _As he flew nearer to the battle he noted a change. She had begun to rapidly weaken as though she had been gravely injured. He found himself subconsciously flying faster. In seconds he arrived to the battlefield to see several Adjuchas left alive, dozens of lesser hollows fading away with death. A saber-toothed tiger lunged at Aracelis only to have her kick it under the chin to send it distance away. She clutched at her thigh, her bone visible, the large gash pouring out blood as it slowly mended. Her face was cut up and bruised as well. Underneath her usual mad grin she appeared to be hiding pain. The way she gasped for air showed her exhaustion. He watched as more of the hollows ran at her to be knocked away in the last second. She did not appear to notice him above her, nor did any of her attackers. They were too focused on killing each other._

 _Suddenly Aracelis tripped and fell to the ground. The saber cat rushed forward to finish her off with sharpened teeth. Her speed had diminished with her injuries, and she just had time to punch the hollow in the face only to be hit from behind by a cero from another of the hollows. He saw her mouth open as she likely screamed as she was sent rolling in the sand. When she came to a stop she made no move to rise to her feet. She was unconscious._

 _In that moment Ulquiorra was sure she would die._

 _He used sonido, appearing in front of her before a massive hollow with sharpened nails reached for her. In a blinding green light the creature met its end. While his arrival stunned a few of the hollows, the saber cat stepped forward, his mouth opening and closing as he yelled out words Ulquiorra could not hear nor understand. Instead of staring blankly at the hollow, he reached down, grabbing the limp woman by the back of her tattered, blood-covered shirt._

 _The saber ordered the remaining hollows to charge all at once. Ulquiorra raised a clawed hand, pointing a finger at the group before a cero blasted them into oblivion. The saber backed away a few steps, recognizing that Ulquiorra was far stronger than itself, that nearly all of its allies had fallen, but not leaving. While the hollow debated attacking him, Ulquiorra raised Aracelis up high enough to adjust his hold to grab her around the waist. As the saber let off a cero Ulquiorra flew away unscathed with Aracelis in hand._

 _Once they were a distance away from the battle, he dropped her to the ground and walked a few feet away. He did not understand why he hadn't just left her. The pathetic woman had lost. She should have died because she had been weak. Yet he knew that he did not wish her to die. She was the only one he could understand at this point because of her human features. She was the one thing that kept him from complete isolation right now. If she were gone, than so was the only one that could perhaps understand him._

 _After a few hours her body twitched before she pushed herself off of the ground to shakily stand. Her wounds had healed by then. She didn't turn to him until after she stretched. When she faced him, she crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at him._

" _Hey, Ulquiorra. Why are you here?" she asked, careful to exaggerate her lip movements so he could understand. She tilted her head to the side when he did nothing to respond. "Bored or something?"_

 _He could only stare at her. She was… she was more fragile then he thought. She didn't appear to remember being attacked. Or… or that he had saved her. If he hadn't arrived, she would be dead. He… he didn't want that. She was so different from the other hollows. She wasn't mindless and set on solely death and destruction. She wanted companionship. She was… she was a speck of white amongst all the darkness in Hueco Mundo. Like him. His pure white color and her pure intentions, they were similar to each other despite being different to everything else. She had somehow found a purpose beyond devouring and killing. He… he wanted to understand what that was because he_ _ **needed**_ _a purpose. He would take up her cause if he could only figure out what it was. He wanted to believe that the world they lived in held some sort of meaning. She seemed to have found a meaning in this madness. If it didn't, if she were wrong, then there was no reason for anything. Living or dying, it wouldn't matter in a void world._

 _He didn't want to believe that it all meant nothing. Not yet. Not while he had her._

* * *

When he was brought to Las Noches, Ggio had recognized him immediately. Baraggan had lost a number of hollows in that operation, so the Second also felt resentful for the loss. The old king of Hueco Mundo held a lasting grudge against him for the battle, for saving Aracelis who had apparently been a thorn in his side for continually rejecting being subjugated into his army.

He should have noticed that that battle had been a prelude hinting at what was to come. Her tripping, the decrease in spiritual pressure, the lack of instant regeneration, and the way she so easily fell unconscious, they had all been the parasite's work. It had been trying to take control from her, perhaps because she had been expending an exorbitant amount of spiritual energy with her wild ceros. He should have noticed that something had been wrong with her. He could have avoided injuring her had he only noticed something so blatantly obvious.

It was better that Aracelis did not remember him saving her from death even as a Vasto Lorde though. She did not need to know how he protected her even back then. It would only make her believe he cared about her from that time onward. He didn't. He had been trying to figure out what to do, nothing else. She had meant nothing to him. Ulquiorra reasoned that he could have left her to die back then if he had a different purpose beyond observing her oddities in search of some sort of answer. He only stayed with her afterwards because she might have been killed by another hollow if he wasn't there to protect her. He recognized her as weak, as something fallible that would inevitably die in the world they dwelled in. In the end, however, it was his presence that almost became her death sentence.

He despised thinking back on these memories. There was a reason he spent his time in the tree repressing them. Damn that weed for bringing them back to the forefront of his mind. Being preoccupied by memories of the past served no purpose at all, yet how they continued to distract him.

Although he was willing to make a compromise. There was one way of sharing this with her that would prove beneficial for him if she agreed. Implementing this plan meant he would have to be the first to give in and go over to her. Not that he hadn't already thought of doing such considering she still lay half clothed. Why continue a silly farce when he could go run his hands over her bare body? Cleary the latter held more purpose than playing a ridiculous game with her.

At that, he quietly closed the book and set it back on the pile. He grabbed her shirt so it would not fall to the floor when he left the chair behind. When she had tossed it at him earlier, the shirt had still been warm and he found her scent comforting in its familiarity… Not that he had purposely smelled it; _she_ had thrown it on _his_ face. Before standing he stole a glance at her still unaware form. Her back was exposed to him. His eyes followed the curve of her spine from her shoulders to her lower back, stopping with the band of her pants. The way the moonlight from the open window created a dim highlight over her dark skin made her all the more alluring. Beautiful, even. That word seemed an accurate description, although it was certainly a term he rarely used considering 'aesthetically pleasing' was a pointless trait to observe. If he had been one of lesser self-control, he would have long given into her attempts to get his attention, he was sure. Especially when she decided to toss her shirt at him. He had really hoped she had been uncovered when she had done that. Had she been, she would have had his full attention immediately. Obviously that had been her goal. He had only refused because she had been teasing him, so he returned the treatment.

He silently rose from his chair, deliberately not making a noise as he walked towards her. She likely thought he had ignored her question and fell to silence. Once at the side of the bed she saw his shadow on the wall, but he did not give her time to react. He crawled into bed next to her, snaking his left arm around her waist, pulling her closer before he rested his hand just above her stomach. She sputtered wordlessly as she gripped the pillow to her chest tighter.

He lowered his mouth next to her ear. She really shouldn't have mentioned liking the sound of his voice to him. Better, that she got a sense of arousal with the mere sound. It was so easy to use that against her. "Would you like your shirt back?" he quietly asked, just in case she had regretted her rash decision to throw it at him.

She awkwardly laughed a few times. With how warm her skin felt, she most certainly had begun blushing. "N-no." Her tight hold on the pillow slackened as she tried to turn her body to look at him. "I would enjoy… if you…" As her words failed her, she placed a hand over his, gently urging him to move it upwards.

"Is that so?" he muttered, quite pleased by her reaction. He slid his hand up until it rested just under her breasts to earn a shaky intake of breath from her in anticipation. For a second he considered dropping his idea in favor of giving her body his full attention. "Now, you mean to tell me you do not remember being the cause of Baraggan's irritation towards me?"

"No? I have no idea what you're talking about, Ulquiorra." Her fingers wrapped around his hand, trying to convince him to keep moving upward and forget the conversation. "Are you going to tell me?" She sighed when he kept still, annoyed with him already. "If not, then just-" She squeaked as he moved his hand between her breasts, teasingly near cupping one. He could only hope he didn't upset her too much now, because he really would enjoy playing with her rather than merely teasing her- and himself by not allowing himself what he wanted.

"If you allow me to use Solita Vista, I will show you exactly what had happened."

"Seriously?" she groaned before letting out an exasperated sigh. He imagined he had earned an eye roll from her as well. "You're going to do this now? You couldn't just feel me up without trying to work in some sort of ulterior motive?" He didn't respond to her irritation, expecting it. His attempts to coerce her never did end well. Not that he would desire the opposite; he wanted her to tell him off when he was blatantly being manipulative. She didn't need to put up with him. He didn't understand why she did. "No, Ulquiorra, I don't want you to tear out your damn eye to show me something you could just as easily tell me."

"I do not understand your aversion to it," he said plainly. "I can regenerate the eye easily enough. Your concern is unnecessary."

"Yeah, I know you can," she admitted, but her voice still filled with concern even if she recognized that fact. "It's… It's just that it has to hurt, or at least be uncomfortable to do. I can't imagine tearing out an eye; the thought alone freaks me out and seems like a form of torture if you ask me. And I don't want to make you do that, especially when you could just tell me. And even if it's something really weird or outrageous, I'd believe you. I don't need to see proof to believe you."

He was at a loss for words for a moment. She trusted him far too much. He lied to her so often. She shouldn't believe what he said with such adamancy. His word, it didn't mean as much as the conclusions she could draw for herself from what she had witnessed. And all of this because she… Because she didn't want to have him feel even slight discomfort? It was ridiculous. The benefits of using Solita Vista clearly outweighed the miniscule amount of pain that accompanied using it. Her concern wasn't warranted at all. She needn't care that it hurt him to use it. It made no sense that she felt troubled by him using it other than that silly human empathy of hers made her feel such concern. His wellbeing should mean _nothing_ to her. If anything, she should want him to be injured as some form of retribution for all of the mistreatment he continually inflicted upon her. She should hate him, not… Not whatever it was she felt for him.

"How touching," he flatly stated, mocking her for her feelings. Perhaps then she wouldn't care about him. "If you weren't so critical of this ability, I could directly answer your questions in a concise manner. I could answer your earlier question. I could have easily shown you your resurrección. Does the non-existent discomfort Solita Vista causes me bother you to such a degree that you would deny yourself this knowledge?"

"Yes, it does," she snapped. "I told you it bothers me, and I mean it. Just drop it, okay? I'm not going to agree to letting you use it." She paused, her grip on his hand tightening. "And please, _please_ don't show me by force, okay? I… I understand if Lord Aizen demands you to use it, and I won't stop you from using it if I happen to be there." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Just… If it's only me… Please don't use it."

"I won't," he promised before he could think it over. If she was this upset by the mere idea, than he would not want to see how hysterical she became if he actually went through with forcing her to witness the ability in use. He did not understand why it bothered her to such a degree, but he would not push the topic any further than this. He'd probably gone too far already. And, if he really wished to show her what her resurrección had looked like, he did have another method at his disposal. It was just such a useless skill… She would likely fawn over it if she knew. Nelliel had been such a pain when she had found out. Aracelis would be so much more annoying, but she really would enjoy seeing her resurrección for herself…. It would also assist him in learning more about the parasite if she could note differences in her form in more detail if he provided an example for her to view. Yes, there was an actual benefit to showing her instead of him doing it out of 'kindness.' "If you behave, perhaps I can find another way to show you your resurrección."

"Another way, huh? I'll be a good little subordinate for you then," she muttered, failing to hide the bit of curiosity that leaked into her bitter tone.

The reason why Barragan detested him would remain a secret from her, because he did not wish to explain his reasoning for protecting her then. Sharing that memory would only have been useful if he could use Solita Vista for her; otherwise it was a needless display that would further confuse her and wrongly convince her that he cared far more than he did.

"Hey," Aracelis said after a moment of silence. "Did you know that you're really terrible at bedroom talk?"

"Quiet." The statement had struck a nerve. Sure, he had been allowing her to initiate most of what they did together, but that was merely to figure out what she liked. Okay, fine, he had been learning what to do because any of the limited experience and knowledge he had was the basics of such activities. Not foreplay. About all he knew involved some rather _intimate_ touching, and now didn't quite seem the time to be sticking his hand down her pants- perhaps later she'd be receptive to such a thing, though. He figured he had hidden this lack of knowledge well enough, but that stupid remark annoyed him. He didn't want her even joking about him being incompetent in bed. That actually did hurt his ego a bit… "That had not been my intention," he defended despite it being wholly unnecessary.

"Really? Had me fooled," she teased, before adding sincerely, "I didn't mean anything by it." She turned her body so she was leaned into him, almost flat on her back, all to look at him with mischievous eyes. A smile had returned to her face. "Had talking been your only intention, though? I do have to wonder if you had something else in mind…"

Her grip on his hand loosened, and she completely let go of the pillow. Then she knocked the pillow away from her and to the side. Despite doing this herself, her skin got warmer, her cheeks gaining a slight flush. His eyes drifted from her face. While she had attempted to cover her breasts with her slender arm, not all could be hidden, breasts squished together and up by her efforts. And the way she grabbed herself… He would rather that be his hand.

He leaned forward, capturing her lips in a heated kiss. Very carefully he shifted his position as not to break the kiss until he had managed to slip one of his knees between her thighs, his left hand moved to tilt her face, his right hand on the bed next to her head. As they took a moment to breath, he pulled away. He leaned back, trailing his hands down her sides until he reached her hips. There his right hand continued down until he stroked her inner thigh through her pants, dangerously high, almost rubbing against her.

"Ulquiorra," she breathed, closing her eyes to focus on the feeling. Eventually she took the cue to part her legs so he could sit between them. He pulled her closer, flush to his knees, returning to running his hands over her bare torso. When she let out a quiet moan he bit his tongue to keep quiet. Feeling aroused, with how his body reacted without his consent, still bothered him somewhat. She had no idea what she did to him. That didn't stop him from continuing to massage her hips, however. No, he wanted to hear her make that sound again.

Aracelis reached her hand out desperately to gain his attention. He glanced back at her face, deciding to tease her for a moment before giving in to kiss her once more like she wanted. Aracelis pouted, the look somehow endearing to him. Her impatient little frowns were certainly something she only aimed at him. Everyone else got her scowl or her mirroring his blank expression. He crawled on top of her, Aracelis wrapping her legs around his waist to pull him closer. With her body against his, he felt another rush of heat as his blood decided it was needed elsewhere. As his lips met hers, she pulled her arm out from under him to wrap both of them around his neck. Her fingers traced over his mask remnants before she knotted them into his hair once more. Despite himself, he moaned quietly at all the attention. He found her pulling his hair to be bizarrely enjoyable, although he never admitted that fact to her. She figured it out on her own when he couldn't stifle all sounds from escaping himself. While she slid her tongue into his mouth, he considered how much he regretted not taking off his shirt before this. For whatever reason, she made him nearly sweat with how hot she made him. Even battle didn't do this to him. He was also missing out on the full effect of having her bare chest pressed to his. Apparently her body found the room chilly, or she was turned on by what he was doing with her. Before he had a chance to reach for the zipper of his shirt, her fingers left his hair to grab for it. She struggled with a look of utmost concentration on her face, only getting it down to his collarbones.

"Do you need some assistance?" He found it amusing when she dropped her hand down in defeat. He allowed her enough room to cover herself back up with her arm.

"Yeah," she said with a slight laugh. "I'm… I'm struggling here." She ginned before pushing herself up, whispering into his ear, "I'd generously reward you for your help, Ulquiorra." His stiffened when she slowly licked his ear. Then she let herself fall back to the bed, her chest bouncing slightly with the movement. He wondered how aware she was of her movements, and how they were really testing his control. His body would not allow this to go on much longer without showing his desire outwardly. The smug grin hinted that she knew full well what she was doing.

He sat up, reaching for the front of his shirt. In one effortless move he had it unzipped. "You struggle with odd things," he stated, removing the fabric before unceremoniously tossing it to the side where he had long since abandoned hers. Right now, being overly neat wasn't appropriate- even if it did bother him slightly to have something out of place. She slowly looked him over with half-lidded eyes, gaze trailing down his chest and to his stomach. He didn't entirely understand what she so enjoyed about him, but had figured out she fixated the most on his muscles- discounting her apparent enthrallment with his eyes. She also seemed to like his backside considering how she grabbed it enough… He'd have to get her on top of him so he could return her handling properly. "I believe you mentioned a reward for assisting you," he said, pulling her out of her fixation, the sound of his voice making her eyes shoot to his face. He returned a hand to her hip before rubbing his hand down her thigh at an agonizingly slow pace.

"Y-yeah, I suppose I do…" Aracelis looked off to the side nervously as she bit her lip. Her hand twitched as she hesitantly tried to will herself to move her arm. She slowly began to slide her hand off of her breast, showing more and more skin, almost revealing her... When she scowled suddenly and froze her movement, he got confused enough to stop his anticipatory gaze to look at her expression. It was a look reserved for someone she found truly annoying. He didn't think he had done something wrong…

"If you are apprehensive to-"

"No, no," she quickly spat out, glaring at him before glancing away again to add, "I want you to fondle the hell out of me." He was glad she was looking away because he knew he'd widened his eyes at how blunt she had been. If he wasn't burning up already, he would have felt his damn face betray his surprise- she had mentioned that his 'blushing' was adorable. He found it humiliating to be reduced to such an idiotic creature. Blushing was only acceptable from Aracelis. It was bad enough that he had given into carnal desires like some beast. Sex was pointless, he knew this, yet here he was on top of her. Her tone also confused him because of how frustrated she sounded. He'd happily oblige the request to touch her if she didn't appear so bothered. It was just such strange behavior from her. "I just… I don't know… Got nervous? I mean, you are really attractive. And you never really say if you think I am, and I just sort of wanted to hear you say so before I… ah… stripped down for you completely. Because I guess, I don't know, that for a second my _brain,_ " she hissed, "decided I'm not that great and that you were just screwing with me, but I knew that was wrong, but it still distracted me, which pissed me off because I'm trying to do you, and it was just talking over me again, saying that it would be a bad idea, which made me mad because I want you, like I'm _really_ turned on right now, so sex would be great, and I-"

"You are attractive," he interrupted, seeing she had lost her train of thought and would ramble incoherently if she continued for much longer. Not that he minded hearing her say that she wanted him to such a degree. Actually, hearing more would have been entertaining. Perhaps he shouldn't have stopped her. She stared at him for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face, seeing that he seriously meant his words. "I would not be trying to copulate with you if I thought otherwise." That was the honest truth of the situation. He didn't know why he decided he found her attractive, but he did. Obviously that meant he wanted to sleep with her, because what else would it mean?

"There's that Ulquiorra charm," she muttered, holding back a laugh. "Thank you, though. I… I like compliments from you." She averted her eyes, licking her lips to wet them like this was the most opportune time for such actions. He almost leaned down to kiss her… "So, um," she started again. Aracelis shifted a bit before she lifted her arm off of her chest slightly, it still blocking his view. "Getting back to your reward for assisting me in my time of great need…"

Aracelis let her arm fall to her side, face darkened by how red her cheeks had grown. She turned her head, trying and failing to subtly watch his reaction. He let his eyes leave her face for he finally got a chance to look. Her breasts, while not large, were enough to cup his hand over if he so desired- which he did. Rounded and without perceivable flaws, he decided they were likely quite attractive by any standards. He thought they were. And with her nipples erect… He gave in and cupped his hand over one, earning a shaky breath from her as she closed her eyes. Her skin was in fact soft, and so warm. After a second he moved to hover over her, supporting himself by planting his left hand beside her head and laying on top of her. He gave a gentle squeeze with his right hand, Aracelis sighing happily as she looked back at him. He grabbed her a few more times, squeezing and caressing her as he enjoyed the feel of her skin beneath his fingertips. Then he moved his hand over slightly, rubbing his thumb over her nipple a few times. He knew they were sensitive from the way she reacted when he touched them through her shirt, but otherwise he was just guessing at what to do pathetically enough.

"Ulquiorra," she whispered quietly when he stopped. "Please keep doing that, and maybe…" He glanced to her face to see her biting her lip nervously. She mumbled her words so terribly he couldn't even make out what she had said through lip-reading. Whatever she wanted him to do apparently embarrassed her. By now, however, she certainly noticed that he followed her lead most of the time. She knew he would do what she asked because it would please her. He had already selfishly forced her into this arrangement, he wasn't about to disappoint her in bed by ignoring her needs. He should, considering that then she wouldn't like him as much, but the thought of using her body for just his own pleasure bothered him. She didn't deserve to be used like that… Additionally, he figured she wasn't one to do anything particularly perverse with her sense of modesty. That suited him well enough.

"Speak clearly," he ordered, losing patience when she didn't repeat her words. He wanted to know what she wished of him, not more of her avoidance. Embarrassingly, his control wouldn't last forever with how aroused he was, and a premature release wasn't something he wanted her to witness…

"Pinch my…" she trailed off sheepishly, mouthing her final word. Her face was bright red trying to explain her desires. He wished he could be frustrated, but she was leaving her body fully vulnerable to him, and he couldn't blame her for being hesitant in this case. Not when she was at least trying to speak her mind. For all she knew, she would say the wrong thing and he would get up and leave her. Dealing with her fear of rejection was bothersome, but he wouldn't want to upset her… Such an irritating _concern_ he had developed towards her. "And," she continued quietly, "with your mouth… maybe… um… lick a bit… and nip some."

He stared at her for a moment, confused with the request. She wanted him to bite her nipple? Is that seriously what she was trying to tell him? He wasn't some child suckling off of her. That was the only damn action that popped into his head. Would she really find pleasure in it? It sounded more painful than it would be pleasurable considering the sharpness of his teeth. But, then again, he liked her biting his skin and pulling his hair, so perhaps she would gain some sort of sexual gratification out of a bit of discomfort. Foreplay confused him. He knew he should have brushed over it and just had intercourse with her, but the way she touched him was so enjoyable. He hadn't wanted to deprive her of the same pleasures. Even if that meant seeming somewhat of a fool for not knowing what to do…

Just as she opened her mouth to probably dismiss her request as ridiculous he pinched her. She moaned unrestrained as he keep the pressure on it, shifting beneath him in some form of satisfying pain. He didn't even care as she rubbed up against him, the extent of his arousal becoming obvious to her. He had given up on trying to hide it. No point in it seeing as how he intended to take her now. She had been allowed plenty of time to think better of this, but it appeared she fervently wanted to have sex with him for some unfathomable reason. He lowered his mouth to lick her other nipple a few times, releasing his hold on the left to just fondle her breast so it didn't become too painful. Her hand found the back of his head as she tried to urge him to keep going. When he hesitated she moved her hips against him. There was no holding back his groan as she kept grinding against him. She only slowed when his mouth covered her nipple, tongue circling before he grazed his teeth over it. When he lightly bit down her breath hitched, whining softly as he pinched her left again. She fisted her hand in his hair to hold him there, encouraging him to do more.

After a few moments of repeating the actions, shifting attention from one breast to the other, he lifted his mouth away to trail kisses up to her collarbone, then to her neck as he found a particular spot near her throat. After sucking on the skin he bite down with enough force to leave bruises, yet not cut through her more delicate skin. She breathlessly whispered his name in response. Admittedly, she had shown him this. She was the one that first kissed and sucked on his skin until she found an area just sensitive enough that her biting became insanely pleasurable. He had copied her, much to her apparent enjoyment. He questioned her sanity for allowing him to bite her neck when, if he desired, he could tear her throat open with his teeth alone. She couldn't puncture his hierro, nor even leave a bruise, but he could kill her if wished to. Her trust just baffled him to no end.

He pinched her again as he bit down on her neck, her reaction to arch her back to press herself into him again. There was no stopping the moan from escaping as he was becoming slightly uncomfortable with how much he wanted her. He couldn't take much more of this and he hated it. He despised that she could so easily reduce him to a creature controlled by bodily urges to the point he was losing his rationality to the chaos of desire and lust for her. More so, he detested that he was reveling in the feel of her arms around him, the way she moaned and shifted beneath him in pleasure, the sound of his name as she breathlessly called for him, and the warmth that radiated from her bare skin. Above all else, he enjoyed being close to her and the fact she seemed… happy… with him right now. He hated that his sole focus wasn't fulfilling any carnal desires he felt, but on her comforting presence and her happiness. Hate was the only thing he could think to call this strong feeling accompanying this fact with how unquestionably irrational it was to him.

She pulled at his hair to gain his attention. Her lips were parted, begging him for another kiss he willingly gave her. As he ran his tongue over hers, she pushed against his shoulder, trying to get him to roll over. When his lips left hers, he let himself fall to the side, pulling her on top of him. Aracelis sat on his stomach for a second before leaning down to give him a light kiss that barely brushed his lips. While she leaned over him, he ran his hands down her sides until they rested on her hips, his thumbs rubbing circles on them as his eyes roamed over her bare torso from the new angle. Eventually she sat back again, moving to sit on his thighs, weight on her knees more than him. A hand rested on his hip. She brushed her hair out of her face with her free hand, tucking a lock behind her ear as it kept falling in front of her eyes. For a few seconds she just looked at him with a small smile before her attention wandered to his chest and downward. Then suddenly her expression slipped back to worry.

"I…" she said quietly when she noticed he caught the expression. "I, um, wasn't really sure if you… If you found me attractive enough to… to actually…" Her face flushed, and, while her words failed her, her gaze made it obvious.

"You doubted that I would find you sexually appealing enough to the point of being unable to get an erection?" That was what she chose to concern herself with? She worried that she wouldn't be able to please him? She should have concerned herself with the opposite. Perhaps he should have been more liberal with the compliments towards her figure like she wished, he just wasn't entirely sure how to honestly. Telling her she had rather average features that he somehow found appealing probably wasn't the answer. Reassurance was what she thrived off of though. "I assure you that your body has quite the effect on my pe-"

"Ul-Ulqui- Ulquiorra," she sputtered to interrupt him, avoiding his eyes. "Do you need to say it so bluntly?" she muttered. After a few seconds of fidgeting she hesitantly looked back at him. "But, yeah. Every other time we were messing around, I didn't really feel your… um….," she lowered her gaze again, "so I thought that maybe..." For someone who appeared quite familiar with sex and had no problem groping him upon a whim, she grew embarrassed far too easily when discussing such matters.

"I had actively avoided such contact," he admitted if only to further assure her he found her appealing. "I had not intended to have sex in those moments. Allowing further stimulation would have been pointless."

Her eyes widened when she recognized the meaning behind his words. "S-so right now y-you seriously want t-to?"

"Yes," he answered flatly. This conversation ceased being productive. "Do you desire otherwise?"

"No," she almost shouted. "Oh, no, I want you."

"Then continue," he all but ordered, 'impatient' or 'eager' accurate words for how he felt. "I suspect you wished to be on top of me for a reason beyond commentating." Certainly she hadn't just wished to express doubt about herself- such thoughts usually interrupted whatever else she had planned. If anything she had had the look of wanting to do something that would surprise him in some manner.

Her smile returned, now more resembling of a smirk. "Perceptive as usual," she mumbled to herself before draping herself over him, doing nothing to avoid his groin pressing to hers. In fact, she rocked her hips against his a few times, making him clench his jaw to keep quiet. Immediately he wanted their pants off to move to the next phase of this act. After capturing his lips briefly, she began trailing light kisses from his jaw to his neck with a hand resting on his cheek. As her tongue ran along the skin of his throat, he slid his hand off of her hip to grab at her backside. She paused kissing his skin to hum in apparent amusement that he would grope her instead of the opposite. He better understood why she kept doing that to him now… Admittedly he would prefer her clothes off for a better feel.

Eventually her lips moved from his neck to lay a few kisses on his collarbone before she pushed herself up, hands resting on his pecs. With how she leaned forward, she had pushed her breasts together, displaying them rather appealingly from the angle. Slowly, she traced a finger along the four tattooed to his chest, a content look on her face as she beheld the rank with admiration. Then she lightly set her hand back down to run them both from his chest to his stomach, feeling every muscle as she went. He closed his eyes, not wanting her to grow embarrassed and stop, as her fingers delicately felt over his abs, following the lines of his muscles downward. His jaw clenched in an attempt to hold back a groan, the sound becoming a growl, as one hand continued well past his waist. Even through the fabric, her touch drove him insane. He could only imagine how her fingers would feel wrapped around his bare skin, stroking him… All other thoughts left his mind as he could only feel her hand rubbing against him.

It took a monumental effort to break out of the trance he had fallen into. He didn't completely come to his senses and put an end to this superfluous activity that had somehow snapped his control over his own body, though. Instead he grabbed her wrist, hand shaking as he forced himself to pull her hand away even if he had been enjoying the attention. Just as she opened her mouth she suddenly found herself on her back, pinned beneath him, wide eyes staring up at him as he leaned down to meet her lips in a needy kiss. With her arms around his shoulders and a hand on the back of his head, she pulled herself to him as he lay almost on his side. His right hand felt down the side of her body, fingers curling around the waistband of her pants, brushing her skin underneath the fabric. Her hold on him tightened as she pressed her lips into his. He took that as silent permission to continue. His hand slid under the fabric, Aracelis quickly letting out a small moan as he stroked her. This was something he at least had an idea about considering it was anatomy related; Arrancar's internal organs may occasionally vary in location to humans due to differing physiology, but genitals were another matter, especially for Arrancar granted near perfect human forms. Like her. Her kisses grew rougher as she desperately pulled at him. When her lips left his, her breathing became shaky as his fingers moved against her. He was really surprised that she did seem aroused, still not understanding why she found him appealing to such a degree. She whined quietly when he continued teasingly fondling her without taking it a step further.

"Ulquiorra," she complained, her voice sounding strained and almost desperate. When he ignored her unsaid request Aracelis moved her hips, only to have him pull his hand enough away that she wouldn't get what she wanted. "Ulquiorra," she growled, apparently getting quite angry with his teasing her. Obviously she didn't understand she had been doing the same to him and he was only returning the favor. "Ulquiorra Cifer, seriously."

"Do you require something of me?" He found it amusing when she banged her head into the sheets in frustration. It would be a bonus if she verbally answered with what she desired, but he intended to do it either way. After a bit more stimulation, if she wasn't already aroused enough, he was fairly certain she would be ready for him. As excited as his body was to commence this, he didn't want to cause her more discomfort than necessary.

"You are such a jerk," she mumbled, perhaps catching onto to what he was doing. "Keep teasing me and I swear-" A gasp escaped her, cutting herself off. After a moment the initial surprise wore off, and she relaxed to his touch, allowing him free reign, two fingers exploring her. Soon enough she let her eyes slip closed, sighing happily in pleasure at the feeling, the occasional little moan leaving her mouth as his fingers found a particularly sensitive area.

Following what was likely a few minutes or so, he was satisfied that she could handle him actually penetrating her with more than just his fingers. Perhaps another time he would be willing to simply use his fingers to get her off, but he intended on consummating this strange agreement he had forced upon her- not having sex at this point would show that he held more than just a physical interest in her, which was the opposite of what he wanted. She whined plaintively when his fingers left her, and pouted when he retracted his hand from her pants entirely. He was sure she was about to complain before he roughly tugged at her remaining clothes, pulling her pants half-way off of her, the bare skin of one thigh visible. Just as she moved to actually assist in disrobing, both glared in mutual anger. His jaw clenched tightly as he tried to hide the depth of his irritation. With how tightly he fisted the fabric of her pants, it was surprising it didn't tear.

"You're not going to stay, are you?"

"Unfortunately," he growled, quickly catching that his anger at being interrupted had shown, "I cannot." This couldn't have waited? For _days_ the entire Espada had been able to sit about, uninterrupted, not tasked with anything other than to wait for further orders. Of course that had change now. He couldn't do _one_ thing at his own leisure without something going wrong. Loly, the little worm, often served as a personal messenger for Aizen, particularly when he only wished to see one member of the Espada. No reason to bother Aaroniero to use his ability to fetch one hollow. The creature was nearing their quarters- she had escaped notice far longer than most considering how focused he had been on Aracelis. He… He almost felt irritated at Aizen for this interruption though.

"I'm going to kill her," Aracelis hissed in exasperation. "I'm going to dismember Loly and smash her head into the ground for this." She chose to direct her anger at the messenger rather than the Aizen for once. It was a good call, because he didn't really feel like chastising her at the moment. "Are you sure you can't just stay for a little bit longer to finish up?" she nearly begged as he crawled over her to stand. As soon as he stood next to the bed, Aracelis sat up, fingers catching the fabric of his pants in a tight hold. He waited for her to speak, not quite understanding if she meant to keep him there through this or what. Looking down at her blushing face hinted that her intentions were less than pure. "If… if you want I could…help with," her gaze redirected to his uncomfortable, and now unnecessary, erection, "your problem. I think… I think I know how to… to um… use my mouth, or in the very least my hand to…"

"You…. You would perform oral sex for me?" He could feel his damn face get warm at her suggestion. She had just taken him off guard because he hadn't really considered her doing such a thing with him. Although, from the way she kissed, she seemed quite skilled with her tongue and lips… "Not now," he quickly spat out after being taken aback by imagining her actually doing such. Imaging how her lips would feel on him only added to his current predicament. He would like to have more time than what was allotted to experience such a thing, as rushing didn't suit him.

"Not now, huh?" She rolled her eyes at him, the last time he had said that being her proposition to join her in the shower- which had yet to happen. He'd make them happen soon enough. After releasing his pants from her hold, she shifted almost uncomfortably. "So, um, maybe when you come back we could continue? I'm… I'm really horny now, so I'll be really pissed off if you leave me like this for too long." She awkwardly laughed, attention to the floor after admitting what she apparently thought was a secret.

"I could tell you were aroused when I had my fingers in you." Wide eyes darted to his face before quickly returning to the floor at his blunt remark. "I do not know when I will return," he said a moment later after retrieving a new set of clothes to change into after a quick shower before Loly got any closer to the tower. Hopefully in that time he could regain control of his body one way or another. He would _not_ be letting anyone aside from Aracelis see him in such condition. Admittedly, now that he was thinking with a bit more clarity, he could feel that at some point he had begun sweating a bit. He found it unpleasant to be covered in any amount of filth. As for Aracelis's scent all over him from such close contact… He didn't mind it. May that be, he still would need to bathe to get rid of the scent least some hollow with any sense of smell be able to figure out what he and his Fracción had been doing together.

"Go proposition Aisslinger and Demoura to spar with you after showering." It would keep her busy, and perhaps alleviate some of the frustration she felt at having been so thoroughly teased. He would also still need to gauge her ability before initiating his other plan; having his way with her was far less important than making sure he didn't kill her after all. Now would be a good time for her to train, as it seemed Aizen had a task for him to complete in the near future. There would be no leaving Las Noches if he had a mission to accomplish. Perhaps he would come fetch her after his meeting, test her ability some, and pick up where they left off with this if she didn't come to her senses.

"So, not going to continue this at all?" Aracelis did nothing to hide the disappointment in her tone or on her face as she sulked. He really underestimated her interest in this matter. With her attention on the floor and his prolonged silence, she sighed, figuring that meant he wouldn't be. Before she could have a moment to blame herself for what she would perceive as having disappointing him, he went to her and tilted her chin so she was looking at him with wide blue eyes.

Following a soft kiss to her lips, he said, "I will not tolerate any interruptions next time. I assure you," he nearly growled, "I am frustrated with this as well. I wish to have sex with you, and I have every intention of doing so." He straightened his back, dropping his hand back to his side, content with the smile that had returned to her face with his words.

"I'm going to hold you to that, Ulquiorra." Aracelis stood up, leaving barely any space between them. She leaned forward to give him another little peck on the lips. "And, just so you know," she began, her cheeks darker as she flushed once more, "your growling is really sexy." While he looked at her blankly for both the odd wording she chose –the human slang always confused him a bit- and the compliment towards a bestial noise he'd rather not have made, she fished her shirt off the ground where he had abandoned it.

"You are a strange woman."

"I know," she said cheerfully as she slipped her shirt on, zipping it and fiddling with it before she seemingly remembered her pants were in need of adjustment. Quickly she pulled them back into place. "See you later?" After giving a barely noticeable dip of his head, she grinned happily before walking past him to obediently fulfil the tasks he had assigned her.

As he walked to the shower, he tried and failed to see what she saw in him. He didn't understand why he wanted her in any way, either. Aracelis remained an irrational mess that confused him to no end. She always had been. Perhaps he should be the one reevaluating their 'relationship,' that he never wanted to begin with, before he fell further into her irrational tangle of emotions.

…

Maybe after sleeping with her once… or few times… he would consider trying to push her away again. He couldn't imagine that this arrangement would remain stable. Her emotions had a way of intensifying with time. Eventually she would demand more than what he was willing to give. At some point, she would get bored of him, right? Surely she would understand that happiness wasn't something he could provide her with. That there had to be someone better suited for her. Eventually, she would see that.

Ulquiorra knew she would eventually leave him again, by choice or by death. There was no point in pretending otherwise. He'd much prefer her to choose to leave him then the alternative, however.

* * *

 **A/N- Bet you see why I wanted to change the rating, hm? I didn't want to cut this out, because I think it plays into their relationship dynamic and his thoughts on the matter and how he treats Aracelis (and how awkward he is of course). And the moments where Aracelis got a bit upset/doubtful were most certainly caused by Mirro's vehement opposition to this entire thing- he's still trying to stop this from happening. You can guess Mirro is having a moment cuz he sees that what he is trying to convince Aracelis of is the exact opposite of what Ulquiorra is doing. Also slipped in some more of the past from Ulquiorra's pov too, some of which mirrors what he thought as he watched her 'die.'**

 **Thank you to ClassDummy101 for following, and to everyone reading!**

 **haipa-chan- Surprise! Awkward sexy time has been provided and thusly interrupted. I swear, that's the last time too. Their dying to have at it by now. Even Ulquiorra only has so much restraint after all. And Ulquiorra is of course going to be very blunt and awkward, much to Aracelis's amusement and embarrassment; he hasn't a clue what romance is. Not that she can be seductive either, she just grabs and touches because saying things is much more embarrassing. Definitely be getting to her pov next chapter, of course, which Mirro can share his woes during. He is certainly pissed off, that's for sure. He'd "Mirro out" if he didn't take this as a personal challenge to what is his, and, well, the fact if he leaves Aracelis, Ulquiorra will most assuredly kill him for what he's done- and Ulquiorra doesn't even know** _ **everything**_ **yet. Glad last chapter did end up on the fluffier, more relaxed side because they needed a break from trying to kill each other or everyone else. Despite not responding much, Ulquiorra does quite enjoy her rambling about things she finds interesting- he always had. The chaos of canon is not a time for idle chatter. Which is what interrupted them, as Aizen is interested in abducting Orihime at this point. Thanks for reviewing again!**

 **SilverThornz- I saw a few other authors that thank everybody, and liked the idea because you all really do motivate me to keep going with favs, follows, views, and reviews, and occasionally provide some great ideas. I know, catching up to an ongoing story is like, 'oh, um, I guess I have to wait now. Okay then… two minutes… so is it updated yet?' Glad I got you hooked, though. I'm happy to hear that you're liking how I've depicted Ulquiorra, and that Aracelis is working well. So thank you for reviewing!**

 **Lunar Loon- Man, your absolute loathing of Mirro never ceases to make me giggle! I'm sure he'd be shaking if he could hear beyond that blasted fourth wall. He'll only get worse, and that is a promise. If I wanted one character to be hated it was him, as he is a bastard through and through. I'm happy last chapter got you some feels, and thanks for reviewing!**

 **TheShyScorpio- Oh, wow, such a long review, thank you! So much to comment on… I'm glad their awkwardness has played out as cute, because they most certainly are horrendous at seduction. And Mirro, I'm happy to hear that you see him as an interesting character despite most of his appearances being rage-filled rants. He does come off as jealous, doesn't he? He's very possessive, because Aracelis is** _ **his,**_ **as in he owns her, and Ulquiorra is really worrying him. Not only because he could kill him if he leaves Aracelis' body, but because Mirro has a better understanding of Aracelis's behavior and mental state than even her- he knows her past, what to say to trigger different responses even if she doesn't really know why certain things affect her- and he knows Ulquiorra likes her more than he lets on. That's why it's so important he screams at Aracelis so she believes otherwise. He is losing control of the situation and he is** _ **not**_ **happy. Definitely will explain their past and develop him a bit more, of course. Orihime certainly serves a role in addition to canon, as she is about to be the one human in Las Noches with any sense of emotional connections. Oh, and I definitely was trying to show that they were more comfortable and open with each other last chapter which definitely helped Aracelis not feel as insecure under Mirro's manipulation. Ulquiorra kinda just lets her shower him in affection, too, because it makes her happy and he doesn't really mind her clinging to him. A compromise, he reasoned, and most definitely not anything more. And, well, not having sex after saying that's all he wanted would really prove he had been lying. I'm glad the slow pacing is working, because when I started to really plan out chapters I knew it would be long, but I just really wanted to develop Ulquiorra's character more than the series- and with him, that takes time. Honestly, I feel like in the series, they pulled the 'last minute development to make their death more impactful' thing, and I just, I really wanted to add more depth and reasoning to how Ulquiorra got to that point. It is a job to keep in character with a romance, lol, but it certainly plays to his apparent wanting to understand the heart though. I'm actually really happy to hear that this was worth re-reading already, and that it made sense enough to give you more of an appreciation for it! Thank you for the compliments too, I will certainly be aiming to amaze!**


	27. Chapter 27- (Dis)Passion

"Come on, is that seriously all you two can do?" Aracelis sighed at the two's silence, barely even noticing Aisslinger's pointed glare at her mocking him.

She was bored. She'd been out there fighting… Well, actually, she was more screwing with them than fighting considering how weak they were once she had all their tricks down. Anyway, it'd been a while, and even tormenting the two had lost its appeal. Honestly, at this point, she felt like maiming them for entertainment's sake. This pathetic mock fight barely even took the edge off of her frustration; and how frustrated she was with the earlier turn of events. If that bastard Aizen hadn't interrupted, she'd probably still be in bed with Ulquiorra. Spreading Aisslinger and Demoura's entrails over the sand might have been at least a bit more fun than having to gently bat them away, but breaking two of the better fighters in the Números wasn't a good idea. What a terrible combination being bored and pissed off was…

Aisslinger fired off another round of energy blasts. She didn't even need to think as she used sonido to avoid them all. As Demoura swung at her from behind, like he had the last _several dozen times_ , she lazily moved to the side. About the only thing she could do in response was to roll her eyes. Man, she really wished she hadn't figured out all their fighting patterns already. At first the two had been sort of fun to spar with, but now they were just dreadfully boring. At least Aisslinger was interesting to talk to considering he had a brain. Demoura's head was empty, and might have cobwebs forming in the space. Probably had a teeny bug operating his entire clumsy body too.

When Aisslinger shot towards her, she held up her sword- she was trying to use the blade for once- to block all of his spindly fingers before they stabbed into her. Instead of being rude and removing the limbs for him, she kicked him in the face hard enough he let out a grunt as he flew into the ground. She was nice and didn't break his mask, though. Demoura's oversized tongue then lashed out to smack her from the air. No matter how badly she wanted to tear the gross appendage out, she kicked it to the side, Demoura's body following with the force. The giant crashed into the ground as Aisslinger rose from a sandy crater opposite of the lout.

A flicker to her right made her eyes open wide, pupils shrinking in absolute fear with the spiritual pressure suddenly being exerted on her. If she had a heart, it would have leapt out of her throat to run for it. In a miracle, she got her sword raised in time to clash with another in a din of metal shrieks. Her arms shook as she tried to hold back Ulquiorra's damn zanpakuto. He didn't as much as look at her as he kept steady pressure against the blade.

"Sneaking up on me. So mean," she muttered, still trying to push back his sword to no avail. Her hands were beginning to feel numb from gripping the hilt so tightly just so it didn't get flung half way across Hueco Mundo.

Instead of looking to her, he glanced at the apparently stunned Número duo gawking as an Espada had his sword blocked by a Fracción. While he certainly wasn't using his full strength to hold her back, his initial attack had been at top speed. They probably didn't even see him as he used sonido. He only slowed down a fraction to keep from slicing her in half when it took a tiny bit too long to get her sword raised properly. Even then, the two hadn't been subject to just how fast Aracelis could be. They got the watered down 'I'm playing with you before I kill you' speed instead of the 'I'm going to _die_ if I don't get the hell out of the way' speed. It was her apparent one skill, and damned if she wouldn't brag about it given the chance.

"You are dismissed," Ulquiorra stated with about as much enthusiasm as usual. Meaning a completely flat tone paired with an equally blank look. The two respectfully bowed to him before scurrying back to the hole she dragged them out of earlier. Once the two were out of earshot, Ulquiorra turned his attention back to her as she struggled to keep pushing him back, her look of concentration unable to fade as doing so would be the end of her- or at least earn her sword being sent quite a distance. "Your reaction time has moderately improved," he commented rather off-handedly, to the point she wasn't sure if it were a compliment or a thinly veiled insult at having not improved more.

"Why thank you," she forced out of gritted teeth, her arms about to give out with how long this had gone on. In a last ditch effort she tried to move away. Terrible idea. She ended up with her own sword nearly pressing into her neck as he managed to get behind her, caging her in with his so she really had nowhere to go. What made her hold back a giggle was he forced her back against him when he most certainly didn't need to. She was pretty sure he just wanted her close again, this some sort of bizarre foreplay on his part. She hoped so, anyway. She wouldn't mind playing around before returning to their earlier activities. She leaned back into him, both because she wanted to and because she needed to. Having a blade at her throat wasn't exactly a comforting feeling. He didn't react, of course, so she felt like she had her back to an unmoving, hard wall.

After an extended silence only interrupted by her occasionally grunting at the effort of holding him back as he shifted the amount of strength behind his blade from absolutely cruel to horribly punishing, she asked, "Having fun?" She rolled her eyes when he didn't respond at all. Whatever he decided to think over kept him silent. Too bad her arms were beginning to feel the strain of the extended time shoving against his unyielding sword. "Ulquiorra, my arms are going to give out soon. I'm outmatched and I know it, so a little mercy might be nice." If he wanted to test her limit, this was it.

"You are unable to escape." A statement to be taken as challenge. He wanted her to at least try getting away with her life intact. All she could think was 'great, another sword lesson that lasts several hours where I end up exhausted.' She really didn't want to deal with drill sergeant Ulquiorra right now; he was sort of an ass, honestly. But fine. She'd do what he told her. Hopefully this was a quick lesson before something more fun.

Aracelis attempted to keep her blade from being pushed into her neck while trying to bend her knees enough to slip under his sword before running for it. What she successfully did was rub her backside into him because of how damn close he was standing. With her face burning, she straightened back up, fairly certain Ulquiorra lessened the force behind his blade a fraction at the accidental grinding she'd done. Unfortunately for him, it gave her an idea. Hopefully he'd take it okay… Or else she would be losing an arm and getting an offended look with an undertone of mortification. As cute as that look was, having an arm removed for it wasn't worth it.

"Ulquiorra, I don't think I can escape like this." One last chance before she got desperate. Seriously, her muscles were screaming from this. Holding back an Espada took a lot of damn work, and he wasn't going particularly easy on her right now- not nice, but not vicious with an aim to kill either. He was an unforgiving teacher when it came to training her. He didn't respond _or_ move, so she went to her crap plan, if it could even be called that.

She took one hand off the hilt of her sword and struggled to crane her neck away from her own blade as it was pushed towards her by his, it almost burying its edge into her shoulder in the process. She reached behind her, for once her aim impeccable, hand squarely on his groin to give a gentle squeeze. His immediate reaction was to draw in a sharp breath in surprise, body freezing, force behind his sword lessening just enough that she managed to duck under it and use sonido. From a distance away, she bit her lip nervously at the slight frown that manifested on his face as he stood completely still.

Just as she opened her mouth to apologize he asked, "Do you find that a valid tactic in battle?" In a blur he closed the distance between them again, rather lazily swinging for her. She easily parried. "Would you use that against others?" His sword collided with hers again, showing that he had changed to simply testing her ability to block from different angles properly. So… not mad with the hands-on approach? She honestly had no idea what his boundaries were for such things. Originally she assumed no touching what-so-ever, but now… Not so clear. He may have made an exception for her, like many other instances, but the extent of that exception remained to be seen.

"I think it's a good tactic, just I was being nice to you. I…" She hesitated as she blocked another strike. He repeated the same angle when she didn't block properly. "I just fondled you some instead. You get special treatment."

If she wasn't mistaken, he raised an eyebrow at the remark. Following another parry he sped up the pace. With the various angles and speed now in play, it was a bit harder for her to keep blocking, her poor swordsmanship in the spotlight. There were a lot more repeated swings when she failed to respond correctly. "What treatment would other opponents have received?" Too curious to keep quiet, apparently.

"A bala," she said with a grin, that the absolute truth. Had someone else decided to get her into such a tight-quarter position, she would have sent a bala at whatever she could. She'd fight dirty if she had to. Ulquiorra would have been fine, probably, even if she had aimed a bala at such a 'delicate' area, but that was just rude. She wouldn't do that to him. And, well, had she just used a bala, he probably wouldn't have gotten distracted. Flustering him, though, that got to him. Revenge for all the times he made her embarrassed, she supposed.

"Perhaps a weaker opponent would find that distracting," he stated rather plainly. "Next time I will sever your arm, however, so I suggest you refrain from such handling." In one step, he had her sword forced back again, invading her personal space once more to add, "Unless we are in a private setting."

Her face got warm at how absolutely serious he had been. "O-okay," she agreed, glancing to the side as his eyes bore into hers. She… She got the idea that he enjoyed her touching him from earlier, but him confirming it with words was sort of embarrassing. But, of course, it could have been worse. She would have keeled over if he said it even more bluntly than that. Or died of laughter because Ulquiorra saying 'don't grab my dick in public' in all seriousness would be hilariously unexpected. It's not like she wasn't willing to do it again though. Actually, she'd take it further than just touching him through fabric…

' _I swear I'll vomit if you think about his penis one more time,'_ instinct muttered, sounding uncharacteristically defeated, like it would be pinching its brow in frustration. Stupid voice still wouldn't shut up though. She'd really been pissed off when it decided to go on a tirade when she's been screwing around with Ulquiorra. Stupid voice had been absolutely intolerable, screaming as she was uncovering her chest, and _forget_ when she'd been on top of him with her hands all over him. Had it been an actual person, she would have been deaf from the screeching. It had at least toned it down since exploding for a second time after her interrupted session with Ulquiorra while she showered, since she had tried to get rid of the awful ache she felt at being left while so turned on. It whined about how disgusting she was for stripping down and letting him almost bed her, and how apparently revolting Ulquiorra was for fingering her. Seriously, instinct took more offense to that than anything else. ' _That's because it is repulsive! There is no reason for it!'_

She couldn't help mentally egging it on with, "Sure there is. It felt amazing." A bit of an exaggeration considering he hadn't done it for long, but she was fairly sure, given even a little more time, he could have had her a quivering mess. He might have a limited idea what he was doing, but damned if he wasn't a quick learner. She was also caught off guard that he thought to do it in the first place… Made her wonder just what he had been reading. Humans did have a lot of naughty novels out there for the taking…

' _Who cares about how you feel?'_ instinct snottily shot back, making her scowl again. _'Women shouldn't like sex to begin with. Not unless they are filthy whores. Crap like this is why…'_

Before she had a chance to respond to instinct or have the voice start a 'back in my day' rant, the external world decided she had had enough time spacing out, yelling at herself. A loud metallic screech rang out as she missed correctly angling her sword to deflect another swing from Ulquiorra. Her blade sailed through the air, quickly on the way to ground far below. She awkwardly stood there unarmed with a sheepish look on her face as Ulquiorra's blank expression remained on her. He managed to convey 'what the hell were you distracted?' without saying it.

"I, ah, don't really have a good excuse." Aracelis managed to force an embarrassed smile to her face. It's not like she would say she was having a mental argument with herself about the pleasure of having his fingers in her. Like hell she would admit any of that to him. At least verbally. He'd already figured it out from her bodily reaction earlier. She'd rather keep her squabbles with herself a secret though…

He blinked slowly, like he couldn't believe she would be spacing out _again_. Then he stared back at her rather blankly, making her squirm a bit because she could just tell he was about to do something she wouldn't like. He flew forward at full speed, swinging at her, leaving her to panic as she tried to dodge a blade she barely saw. Punishment for losing her sword if she wagered. One bad guess left her with a small cut on her right thigh that healed instantly, but left a nice tear in her clothes. He didn't even pause, as a minor wound didn't warrant a break from his nearly cruel training methods. Seriously, she wondered who trained him to use a sword, because, if he copied their methods, they had to be the absolute worst. Not all of this could be natural talent, right?

Eventually, when she felt she had nearly died half a dozen times and had her right arm removed just as many times- he decided that was his target today apparently-, he stopped to return his sword to its sheath. She had her hands on her knees as she desperately tried to catch up on her breathing. He appeared to be giving her a break before whatever else he had planned. She didn't know whether to be grateful or not yet. He could just be letting her catch her breath before giving her an even more grueling task. She honestly had no idea how she survived the last multiple-hour training session considering twenty minutes of this was tiring; although, not as much as usual, oddly enough. It was then that she noticed he never had lessened his spiritual pressure from when he arrived. While not the full extent of his power, as that would have her body shaking in instinctual fear, he was releasing a good amount that she had been feeding off of.

His concentration remained on her by the time her breathing was more regulated. She tilted her head to the side. "Are you using pesquisa right now?" From the silence, she guessed that he had been analyzing her the last few minutes as she took her break. She knew that he would want her quiet until he was done thinking, so she took to looking at the dull landscape. Nothing different, of course. Just more white sand around the white palace filled with white walls and white décor. Her sword was poking out of the sand a distance off, the speck of blue and grey easily visible. Probably have to go get that eventually… She crossed her arms over her chest, a bit impatient now, wondering how many things he was mentally sorting through that it would take her little genius this long.

"Don't move." His command made her snap her attention back to him. For a second she thought he meant when she had crossed her arms, but nope. Not. At. All. Even if she wanted to do otherwise, she froze in place. He had an arm raised, finger pointed at her in a display she knew all too well. "Draw in as much energy as you are able."

The shock wore off enough that she nodded her head and did as she was told. She focused on drawing in radiant energy to best of her ability. Satisfied that she got the memo, a green glow quickly gathered before a flash nearly blinded her. The cero breezed safely by her side- not that she expected otherwise. She trusted he wouldn't kill her. Still terrifyingly impressive to have that much power that close, though. It only cemented it in her mind that she'd hate to be his enemy. He was scary enough as a friend. Or whatever they were now. The humans had a term, like, friends with benefits or something?

Aracelis remained in place well after the glow faded. He appeared to watch how the energy distorted around her. She could feel the effect, actually. Having an Espada release a mass amount of energy near her, as well as exert continual spiritual pressure, made her feel less tired. With such a weird ability, she really should have been stronger, especially after coming to Las Noches to be surrounded by the most powerful hollows _and_ some top tier soul reapers. Still made her mad that whenever she actually needed the energy it inconveniently disappeared… Then she also felt tired so often for no reason, especially considering how much energy she was surrounded by. _And_ that she couldn't use her resurrección because instinct apparently banned her from it. She really hoped that Ulquiorra would actually show her what it looked like. As long as it wasn't Solita Vista, of course.

He drew his sword again, sending her back into a mild panic. She watched as he lunged for her, stopping to swing downward for her head like he expected her to dodge him at full speed. See him? Yes. React fast enough? Nope. With all the effort she could muster she tried using sonido to dart to the side.

She stood dumbfounded when her flesh didn't get rendered. He had been going fast, right? She couldn't believe she dodged it. Even when it had been a predictable attack, she always ended up with some injury when he did this. Like, his sword should have been buried in her right shoulder right now. Surely she didn't get faster in the…

Aracelis wanted to roll her eyes at her own stupidity. The only reason she managed this was using _his_ power that she had collected. That's probably what he was testing to begin with.

"Use a cero," he ordered after sheathing his sword again. The only reason he had probably drawn it in the first place was to get her adjusted to fighting things with weapons instead of hulking hollows flailing their limbs about. Swords required more finesse. Finesse that she utterly lacked. He'd use every opportunity to get her accustomed to them.

"On you or….?" She shrugged when he didn't respond and essentially gave her the choice. Either way he was going to accomplish his examination of her improvement since she began training with the two Números.

Before he got tired of waiting, she raised her hand, light gathering in her palm. The blue energy engulfed his figure. Stronger than usual, she noted. Little traces of other energy signatures in it, Ulquiorra's the most noticeable of course, but also some of Aisslinger's and Demoura's. Hell, even some of Nnoitra's was still mixed in from when she used his spiritual pressure to sprint to Harribel faster- so she could see what she had presumed would be Clematis's demise. She really should train more often if it meant siphoning away power from others _and keeping it_ for a week or so. Amazing what she missed when not paying attention. Then again, who the hell analyzes their own spiritual pressure? Certainly not hollows, because pesquisa was for hunting prey. It's not like it would have been this obvious before, either, since the Arrancar were more powerful than anything her previous leeching could have had. Also, it did seem to dissipate over time, or she would be quite a powerful hollow by now. If that were the case, she would have kicked Aizen out of Hueco Mundo. Too bad things never worked that well for her.

When the glow completely faded away, he looked about as impressed as usual. Predictably unscathed too. After watching the remaining traces of the cero diminish into the air or be recycled by her ability, he shoved his hands into his pockets. He glanced in the direction of her sword. With sigh she went to fetch the dumb piece of metal. Once she had the rather useless blade back in hand, she waited for further instruction. She already had a guess to what she would be doing now.

"Attack."

After heaving another annoyed sigh, she ran at him to hopelessly swing her sword around. No matter what she tried, he leaned out of the way, sidestepping with minimal effort, his expression never changing as he regarded her efforts with a critical eye. He just adored mocking her further by keeping his hands in his pockets to show off just how much better he was at this. When she missed terribly and growled in frustration, she was positive a spark of amusement shone in his eyes.

She had no idea when he drew his sword again, but he blocked hers with ease. With the once over he gave her while not initiating an attack, Aracelis raised an eyebrow at him. "You have moderately improved," he started. She nearly wanted to hug him because that meant training was over after he gave her the results of his analysis. "Your swordsmanship is still remarkably poor. Your ability to block has seen improvement, as well as your speed and reaction time having increased. You still lack overall control over your ability to drawn in energy, but you have increased the amount of energy you both consciously absorb and then use in battle." As brutally honest as ever. Not that she minded much; he was only telling the truth and didn't mean it as a petty insult just to undermine her capabilities. He'd started adding in little praises, too, instead of just stating negatives, and she was fairly sure he did just to make her feel better. His eyes narrowed slightly while finishing with, "You still allow yourself to become distracted far too easily. Command your thoughts to focus, perhaps."

At that, she cocked her head to the side. What an odd way to phrase it. He'd stressed the word 'thoughts' too, if she weren't mistaken. Surely he didn't know she had mental fights with herself, but that phrasing almost hinted that he did. But, then again, instinct arguing with her wasn't _always_ the cause to her spacing out. She did daydream often…

' _L-like he would know what dumb things run through your head,'_ instinct muttered with a hint of unexplained unease. 'And _we only argue because you're an imbecile! That'll get us killed eventually!'_ So defensive too…

A shove against her sword made her focus on him again. "Um, yeah. I'll try doing that." Her response didn't seem to please him any. The silence as he stared at her began to drag on too long for her liking. He never put his sword away either. "Are we done training?" she finally asked, unable to contain her nerves at the idea of continuing.

Painstakingly slowly he dragged his sword against hers with a quiet grinding screech before sheathing it. He grabbed the blade of her sword like it were the dullest hunk of metal in the world to prevent her from putting it away. A clear sign he had more training in mind. "I will conclude this session once you land a blow on me."

"A challenge, huh?" At least he put his sword away; meant she was a tiny bit less likely to have a limb sliced off. Broken limbs took a little less effort to heal, unless they were shattered into oblivion. She didn't feel like wasting all the energy she'd siphoned from him right now. If she somehow got into a fight with another pissed off Espada, extra energy would come in handy. "Ceros and bala count?" If she could use them it made the challenge more doable. Sort of. A slight nod was his response. "Any hit counts?"

"Yes," he answered simply as he let go of her sword.

She swung at him right away in the off chance he didn't expect it. But he did and promptly dodged the attack. Much like the previous round of her trying to hit him, she failed rather spectacularly. Nothing got close to hitting him. He did seem to be moving about a bit more, the tower above the sands about to become an obstacle if they drew any nearer to their quarters than they already were. If she wasn't mistaken, he was playing with her considering how lazily he seemed to dodging her hits, and blatantly teasing her by using sonido to get right next to her while still avoiding her blade. And her kicks. Hell, she even tried to punch him, but her fist flew through empty air by the time it would have been anywhere near hitting his face. The two bala she'd tried ended up exploding upon impact with the ground after horribly missing him.

This appeared to be more of a game than a challenge, actually. Still unwinnable though. Another few minutes of failing seemed to prove that.

On a downward swing he caught the blade of her sword again. "Wha-?" She yanked on her sword as he refused to let it go. Technically he was hit, right? Like, the blade touched his hand as he caught it. Did that count? His tight hold on the blade as he stood wordless and expressionless didn't help her figure out what the hell was going on.

After a few seconds, he never released her blade, nor stole it from her like she thought he would the moment he got his hand on it. He didn't run off yet either, which only served to confuse her further. Was he allowing her to win? What did he have planned? Curiosity took over, but not before she raised her palm, blue glow already intensifying as she aimed straight at him.

She squeaked as somewhere hidden in the brilliant flash he tugged at her sword. She didn't let go and ended up following behind her sword as he pulled her towards him. Then she suddenly found herself being whipped around in a circle, grip faltering as she went flying through the air towards the tower. Expecting to crash through a wall, she instead found herself tumbling across a hard stone floor into a wall after apparently being thrown through a window. As she pushed herself off of the ground, she noticed that he hadn't just tossed her into a random room. He had thrown her with just enough force that she would skid to a stop in her room without breaking anything. Nope, he had a purpose in mind. She hoped it was the same one she had.

Still on her hands and knees she came to a conclusion of what she wanted to do now that they would be inside and training had concluded. Before he came flying in after her, she quickly unzipped her shirt a little more than half way just to get his attention. If this hadn't been his plan she would be changing his mind one way or another. Once attempt number two at seduction had been put into place, she sat up to lean into the wall, knowing there wasn't time to get to her feet with how close his spiritual pressure indicated he was.

With much more grace than she had, he landed softly in the room, stalking towards her silently until he stood a few inches from her. She stared into his emerald eyes, searching for the look she recognized as lustful. An almost invisible smirk crept onto her face when she saw that underlying desire burning there. Totally threw her here on purpose. He stared back at her, only breaking eye contact to let his eyes wander downwards. Before she had a chance to speak up, he brought the blade of her sword to her left cheek, resting the flat side against her mask remnants.

"You allow yourself to be disarmed too easily," he said flatly, completely serious. Such a charmer.

"Yeah," she agreed, trying to keep from smiling at his untimely criticism. She almost snorted as she held back her laughter when his attention went back to her chest as soon as she agreed with his analysis of her lacking ability. Admittedly she wasn't the best at flirting either, but, between this, him trying to manipulate her into letting him use Solita Vista, and bluntly explaining bodily reactions, his bedroom talk remained hilariously bad. Honestly, she liked it. He wasn't pretending to be anything else to impress her, and even if he didn't seem to know what to do with her half the time, he remained confident. She wished she was… Instead when she got nervous she hesitated, or instinct cut in with the insults, and even if she shouldn't care what the stupid voice thought, it distracted her. Then Ulquiorra would sometimes notice and she'd sputter out what instinct said to childishly seek reassurance from him. Constantly having instinct crudely insult everything about her still got to her, though…

' _Insults? I'm just telling the truth. You should just stop now if you don't want him to find out just how worthless you are.'_ She shouldn't have thought about it because it brought the damn devil back at her with vengeance. _'If he thinks you fight bad, from what I've seen, you fuck worse. You're a useless whore that can't even lie on her back and shut up properly.'_

"Aracelis." Ulquiorra's voice made her snap her gaze away from the floor where it apparently drifted and back his face. "Ignore any self-doubt your brain conjures to dissuade you from acting as you desire." As commanding as the observation-turned-order sounded, he also seemed fairly annoyed. "It is irrational to place your trust in secondary misgivings brought forth by something you find irritating to the point of scowling every time you hear it. I do not understand why you would continually choose to listen to what are likely blatant lies instead of trusting your own observations and thoughts."

"I…" She didn't really have words to respond with. Did her behavior make it _that_ obvious when instinct upset her? It must if he specifically called her on scowling when she hesitated. He really must have been annoyed by her hesitancy if he addressed the point so directly too. How he managed to make such an accurate statement without knowing about the rude voice astounded her. Unless he did somehow, which would be weird because she never told him a thing about it. But Ulquiorra was smart… Though it probably just looked like she had been doubting herself instead of instinct preying on her self-esteem by knowing exactly how to undermine her confidence… She wasn't going to ask and risk looking more insane than she already was.

"I'll try," she said after a long silence. Really, she already tried to ignore instinct, but maybe it would help if Ulquiorra would tell her to ignore it whenever he caught her expression shift at its words. Right now, however, she'd rather forget instinct completely for a bit. The best way would be to disgust the voice until it couldn't handle sticking around. "And, um…" she added, focusing on his black-nailed fingers still gripping the hilt of her sword to hold it to her face. It was sort of hilarious he could inadvertently comfort her with a blade pressed into her. Now she would trying to flirt following a serious discussion of her doubts _with a sword resting on her cheek._ They did such odd things. "Before I got distracted… I…" The only pep talk she needed to continue was instinct about to complain again. "I was thinking that maybe we could pick up where we left off earlier. That's why you threw me in here, right? So we could have sex?" She glanced up at him hopefully, praying she hadn't destroyed the mood with an unsaid argument. With outright asking him that, her face heated up a bit, but it needed to be said. Apparently the only time she could blurt out what she wanted was to disgust instinct into pissing off. Her attention returned to the sword as soon as she saw a look saying 'that should have been obvious.'

"For someone ready to strip to gain my attention, you find an absurd amount of difficulty in verbally admitting to wanting anything of a sexual nature," he said matter-of-factly. "Stand," he ordered as soon as he removed the blade from her cheek.

The second she was on her feet he stole her sheath from her sash, returning the blade to it, confiscating them like he usually did. The few other times they'd gotten particularly grabby, he had taken her sword and deposited it well out of reach; he left his too, of course. Last time she'd just laid it on the floor because getting out of bed had been too much of a hassle, and he hadn't needed to steal it. Left it in his room too… She went back after she'd showered and found it on his desk because he'd picked it up before leaving to meet with Aizen. After pacing to a nightstand near her bed, he left both swords behind.

She flinched when he used sonido to return to standing in front of her. Immediately she relaxed as he rested his hands on her hips before stepping closer to her, his forehead resting against hers briefly until his lips pressed to hers, setting a rhythm for her to match. She let her eyes fall closed as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Admittedly, she had peeked a few times during other kisses, and he often had his closed too, which surprised her because he honestly seemed like he would just stare at her. Maybe he picked up on the fact it would be weird because she almost _always_ closed hers. She thought it was really cute that he copied what she did when he didn't know what to do. Not that he remained cute. Once he knew what he was doing, he became a damn expert just as quickly, going from naïvely cute and confused, to hot with how he skillfully he played with her body. Seriously, he was too good at reading her reactions and adjusting what he did to tease her.

A surprised squeak managed to escape her when she found her back pushed into the wall, his body pressed to hers as he pinned her in place, and his tongue suddenly in her mouth running over hers. His hand clamped over her right shoulder, nails digging in painfully. She tried to pry his fingers off, but he just deepened the kiss, lips on hers almost possessively. Instinct whined something that Aracelis missed as her arm began to ache from the pressure. The panic was beginning to build in her with the pain mixing with an underlying fear he might try to tear her arm off again. Just as suddenly as he began, his hand left her shoulder to cradle her face. The end of the kiss felt like a silent apology with how gentle it became. She didn't know what to make of it, drawing a few short breathes to continue for just a few more seconds.

As soon as they paused to breathe he took a half-step back, fingers expertly tugging the zipper of her shirt down the rest of the way. The shirt fell open, already slipping off of her shoulder, as he grabbed the strap and pulled it off of her completely, dropping it to the ground as soon as it was off of her. His hands quickly cupped over her breasts to gently squeeze and then caress them before feeling down her body, his colder skin made more apparent against hers. She was glad he appeared satisfied with her slightly less than average chest, too, because instinct had called her unattractive since they weren't the largest, and, even if she didn't agree at all, it bothered her and made her feel sort of insecure. Instinct had a lot of insults about her body and personality, actually. She was surprised when the voice didn't pipe in to add to her rambling thoughts.

Ulquiorra's touch seemed perfect to her too, never being too rough with her, the closest to pain she usually got was from what she deliberately asked him to do. Grabbing her shoulder had been an oddity for sure. Gentle, but firm. That's what he was with her. For whatever reason her brain decided this felt different from whatever she had been used to before, probably as a human if she had to guess because she hadn't done this as a hollow. Certainly different from what instinct told her he would do to her. Somehow the voice could be absolutely perverted when conjuring up what it thought Ulquiorra would do to her, then go back to being prudish and calling her whore for wanting him. Again, shocked the obnoxious voice didn't respond.

She leaned her head back into the wall, still breathing fairly heavy, as his hands returned to her chest, thumbs rubbing over her nipples for a time before he gave a pinch that caused her to let out a small whine mixed into a sigh. He had looked at her like she was insane when she told him to pinch them, but after seeing she liked it, he decided to keep it in mind. She was glad he did because it certainly felt good to have his strong hands fondling her breasts like this. She still liked his mouth on them better, though. Feeling his breath on her nipple before a warm mouth covered it to suck as his tongue circled, teeth grazing-

She moaned softly as he pinched down again, her fantasizing only adding to the feeling of what he was currently doing. His hand slipped off of her breast to her ribcage. When his thumb ran over the same line of skin a few times rather tentatively, she opened her eyes, not even sure when she had closed them.

"Do you want to get rid of it?" she whispered, already knowing he was tracing over the scar from so long ago. A few other times he had fixated on the wound he had caused, a blank look on his face as he seemed to forget the world around him. She didn't like the almost sad, mournful look he got whenever he saw or felt it. All it would take to get rid of the scar was to cut off the surrounding skin and let it regenerate. The only reason it scarred in the first place was because her regeneration had failed her when she had needed it so desperately. Only stuck around because she hadn't been wounded there since. If it made him happy, she'd let him cut it off.

"No," he quickly asserted, attention still on the scar rather than her face. "No. It doesn't bother me, if that is what you believe." He leaned closer, adding, "Don't further injure yourself over something so superficial," before meeting her lips for another, more gentle kiss.

It was bittersweet, almost, with how he offered her comfort under the guise of just wanting sex. She… She really felt like this was just him trying to show her affection without admitting to caring about her. If he hadn't been so insistent about wanting this to be only physical, that he didn't want to hear how she felt about him, she… She could tell him how much she liked him without the threat of him leaving her for it. Maybe even that she… That she might love him. But she couldn't. Somehow that managed to bring an ache to her chest. Even if he never told her the same, she wanted to at least tell him how she felt, but him leaving if she said anything scared her. At least he let her be affectionate, she supposed. It was one of the few things she could do to show she cared at this point.

Once the sweet kiss ended and another more heated kiss began, one of her hands found the front of his shirt, her efforts much more successful this time around. She even managed to slip it off of his shoulders, the weight of the coattails pulling it to the ground when he dropped his arms to his side for that exact reason. Quickly enough his hands were back on her hips as her hands rested on his bare chest, her thumb tracing over the rank tattooed so prominently on his pale skin. That came to an end as he pulled her closer again, lips against hers briefly before trailing to her neck. One of her hands felt over his shoulder blades and spine, the other tangled in his hair.

She hadn't known what she expected, already enjoying the pure black coloring, but his hair did end up being smooth and rather soft too, the smell best described as clean or watery. Rain maybe. She suspected he showered more than really necessary, especially because a few hours ago had been the first time she had _ever_ seen him sweat. How he even tolerated her right now, she didn't understand. It's not like she had been perspiring waterfalls, but she certainly had some sweat on her because of the harsh workout he gave her before this. At least she hadn't been tossed in the dirt for another layer of grim on her.

Her fingers curled tighter to pull at his hair in reaction to his teeth sinking into her neck. His name slipped out of her lips in a whisper as his tongue ran over the now bruised area. Such an odd feeling, taking pleasure in his teeth on her neck. For a hollow that usually meant imminent death and paying the ultimate price in being either killed or losing all possibility of further evolution. She recognized that, obviously, but trusted him enough that he wouldn't hurt her, let alone kill her, while in such a vulnerable state. Then there was him, with his hierro that she could take a blade to and fail at slicing through, making her teeth as threatening as wet paper. Even if she couldn't hurt him, he must at least trust her some. He wouldn't let anyone else see him acting anything less than an unfeeling wall with no interest in trivial physical pleasures, nor him breaking that façade by being unable to hide every expression, or hold back all noises of satisfaction. She could tell it bothered him to lose that absolute control every time she felt him stiffen, a vibration in his chest as he tried to stifle any sounds from escaping. She didn't know how to make him feel more relaxed with this. Especially when he was the one that insisted this is what he wanted.

Slowly his lips moved from her throat towards her collarbone, beginning to crane his neck to kiss lower. One of his hands left her hips in favor of groping her. That made her draw in a breath, still not quite expecting him to be doing that. His hand stayed there, squeezing a bit, pushing her into him even as he leaned back a bit. She wasn't going to lie; she liked the attention.

"Let go of my hair," he more or less ordered, not meeting her eyes.

Hesitantly she released, confused with the sudden request considering that she knew, without a doubt, that he liked her pulling it- much to her surprise, as that almost seemed like a kink, albeit a tame one, but it counted, sort of. As soon as her fingers were untangled he easily lifted her up, and, before the chance escaped, she had her legs wrapped around his waist as he pushed her against the wall to free his arms. Immediately a hand went to one breast as he lightly pressed his lips to the top of the other. She just rolled her eyes while smiling as she rested her head against the wall, one hand playing with his hair as she absentmindedly traced over the edges of his mask with the other. As soon as his lips found her nipple, his tongue running over it, and his other hand pinching down, she let out a small whine that turned to a moan. Her smile returned when his hand cupped over her breast to give a rougher squeeze. Whenever she gave even a quiet noise, he would hold her closer, and she adored it. Every time she said his name he desperately pulled her to him and she enjoyed that even more. She wished he would use her name instead of acting so impersonally during such an intimate activity though.

She lost track of time as her focus went only to pleasure of what he was doing, but eventually he lifted his mouth off of her chest following one final kiss between her breasts, on the edge of her hollow hole. When he moved away from the wall, she sucked in air in minor panic as she threw her arms around his shoulders before she tipped backwards and fell. This was not a good time for her grace to make her look like an idiot. Ulquiorra wordlessly carried her to the side of the bed, essentially tossing her onto it. She hadn't even stopped bouncing before he grabbed one of her legs by the ankle, fingers working to remove her boot.

"I find your choice in wardrobe to be a poor one," he said rather plainly as he set to work on taking off her other shoe, the first already on the floor with how deftly his fingers worked.

"Why?" She laughed slightly as he nearly threw the boot to the side like it were the most irritating thing he had ever had to deal with. Instead of dropping her leg like she expected, he slid his hand up her pant leg, forcing the cloth up to expose everything below the knee. Quite slowly he felt up and down her leg, apparently admiring it. "Too obscuring, huh?" She used to run around in a ragged pair of shorts that showed her legs off. Of course he would remember how they looked, except for the added scar from where he had splintered her ankle. She didn't know he liked her legs, honestly. He couldn't really stare at them through the fabric so his focus had only _seemed_ to be on her chest and hips. Maybe her lips too, but she wasn't sure if that was because he liked them or just continued to lip-read out of habit.

To her surprise, before he answered, he gently laid a kiss onto the scar in recognition that he had caused that injury as well. She was beginning to think he _really_ regretted doing it to her. "You have shapely legs."

At his fantastically blunt compliment and flat tone, she covered her mouth to keep from giggling. "Thank you. If I didn't like stomping in heads with the boots I'd consider changing into something skimpier for you." Seriously, the boots and pants made it easier to cave skulls in without getting her skin sticky with blood. That, and with all of the creepy Arrancar with wandering eyes, she wouldn't be wearing even less clothing as long as she was while in Las Noches. "Y-you'll just have to work at stripping me down if you want to see them."

"That is acceptable." He set her leg down rather unceremoniously before sitting on the edge of the bed to take his shoes off, because sand in the bed sounded about the worst thing imaginable. That was the one advantage of being in the forsaken palace: not waking up with sand in _everything_. She didn't miss sleeping in the grit.

Before he had them off and moved, she quickly pushed herself up to crawl behind him. She wrapped her arms over his shoulders, kissing along his jaw until she got to a spot near his ear where she bit down as hard as she could. He leaned his head back a bit, giving a barely noticeable sigh as she licked the spot a few times between bites, him slowing down as he was momentarily distracted from his original goal by her. Her fingers traced over his collarbone and the top of his pecs, like she had wanted to do back when he had been carrying her. Mark one goal off of her fantasy list. By the time he actually got his shoes off, Aracelis had repositioned herself until she had the opportunity to climb onto his lap. Following laying a few kisses all over his neck and his chest, she gently pushed against his shoulders to get him to lie down. Once he was, she straddled him, eagerly running her hands over his chest and stomach to trace over his perfectly smooth skin and every line of muscle she could. She still found herself impressed that for how slender he was that he had muscles like this- such a bonus to his gorgeous face and voice. And damn was his voice sexy when a moan or when a growl managed to escape him. She never imagined him making that sound, so hearing it had been an unexpected treat. As she ran hands over him, his hands went from her chest to her hips.

When he pulled her down onto his groin she stared at him in surprise. She didn't expect him to just go for it when last time he had looked sort of pissed off that she had taken the liberty to grind on him. Although, as she rocked her hips a few times to rub against him, his jaw clenched in apparent anger- still didn't like losing control, if she had to guess. His dick was already fairly hard, and he probably hated that his body decided to do that on its own. She didn't really care what her body did, seeing as she was used to not having much control anyway, so the tingle and wetness between her legs didn't bother her at all until she went unsatisfied. Then it was quite the problem.

She leaned forward to give him a peck on the cheek. Then she licked his ear particularly slowly. "So, I take it we have enough time to actually do this?" she whispered on her last thought. No way would she be getting all bothered only to have him ditch her for Aizen again. "I would be really pissed off if someone interrupted again. That had been really mean to leave me like that…" She trailed off. It was a bit easier talking to him about this stuff this time, seeing as she had already been half naked around him and he couldn't see her face currently, but… "I had been really turned on, you know. I needed your help with it," she muttered, just to let him know that she really hadn't liked him teasing and leaving. "My fingers aren't as skilled as yours."

"You… You pleasured yourself?" He shifted under her a bit, trying to look at her, but she kept her burning face hidden. He successfully rubbed against her with his erection is what he did. She only hummed to answer his question. He seriously left her bothered, and she'd been curious to try it out to see what it felt like... That's why instinct had gotten so pissed at her when she'd been showering. Apparently, according to instinct, the only thing worse than having sex with him was masturbating to the thought of him. "Did you imagine it was me pleasuring you?" he asked after a silence, like that were the most absurd thing he'd heard.

"Of course, Ulquiorra." Did he think she would fantasize about someone else? She couldn't think of anyone else she'd rather be doing this with… Or maybe it was because she was trying to get off on the thought of him alone that surprised him. He definitely sounded interested and not disgusted.

"I see," he said after considering the information for a moment more. Apparently he was positively fascinated with what she admitted to him. She wondered if it was him thinking about the act as a concept or imagining her actually doing it. With him, who knows? "We have approximately four days before I am required to attend to other engagements." No word on what he would need to be doing, but she didn't really care right now. His hand left her hip to rest on her cheek, getting her attention focused on his eyes finally. "Is that enough time to satiate your desire properly?"

She hummed in fake contemplation. The noise also kept her from giggling what seemed to be his attempt at humor. Still ended up smiling, though. "I don't know, Ulquiorra… _Just_ four days? I _suppose_ I could settle for that." As soon as she finished speaking, his hand went from her cheek to the back of her head, guiding her lips back to his.

While she had her attention focused on fighting his tongue out of her mouth, his other hand that had formerly been on her hip slid to the small of her back. His fingers soon wove into her hair to keep her lips pressed to his in a needy manner as his other hand went lower, moving around with purpose. When she felt her sash slip off, her face felt like it was on fire, almost biting his tongue as his hand caressed her bare skin. She hadn't expected that to be his goal. She swore she felt him smirk against her lips, but it probably had been her imagination. If he smirked, it would have been inwardly. Just to get back at him, she grinded her hips into him again. Or it least that had been the plan before she felt a groan trying to escape his throat. The half growl convinced her to keep moving her hips against his so she could hear the noise again. Not that him roughly grabbing her backside and keeping her there said he wanted her to stop. It was getting to the point she would prefer to lose the fabric separating them…

The only reason she stopped was she had a 'better' idea. She straightened her back, moving to sit on his thighs instead. He watched her silently, probably guessing that she would do what she did last time and just rub her hand over him through the fabric, but she intended to take it a bit further than that if he allowed. After brushing her hand over him a few times, she earned a quiet, near unnoticeable sigh from him as he attempted to relax and just enjoy the attention opposed to considering every other thought that passed through his head. When she began taking off the sash of his pants she felt him go rigid under her.

"What are you doing?" he outright asked, eyes narrowed at her, a slight tinge of pink on his cheeks.

She fiddled with the sash, avoiding his eyes. That'd been a bit much, she decided, knowing that she should have left him to decide when his clothes came off. He already appeared conflicted, uncomfortable even, and he'd never been one for physical contact. She'd found a boundary, and almost overstepped it. "I, um, was g-going to… I…" she sputtered, now embarrassed herself. He already knew she intended on taking his pants off- or at least pulling them down some- but beyond that, he wanted to hear. Explaining things like this remained difficult. "I was, ah, just going to, um… touch you a bit."

"Do what you will, woman. I no longer care," he said after a moment, not interested in hearing more of her hesitant explanation. Not when she had less of a problem doing what she didn't want to say. He probably was satisfied with that much information anyway. The only reason she hesitated for a second longer was at being referred to as simply woman again. Detached and cold, even as she offered herself to him in every way she could imagine. She knew better than to think this would magically make him say he loved her, but she'd hoped he would at least not hold her at such a distance. She really craved intimacy in every meaning of the word.

To distract herself from the sting his words held, she tried to focus on what she had been doing beforehand. She'd just bury the emotions under the physical like he was if that's what it took. Once the sash was out of the way, she tugged at his pants, determined. The second she grabbed him, she felt her face burning up with both the fact she had her hand wrapped around his penis, slowly moving up to stroke him, but also the thought that she'd be having a bit of fun soon enough. She wasn't really sure what she expected, but he was working with quite a nice length. Which she continued to move her hand up and down, carefully trying not to get him off through this alone and just tease him for a bit because she wanted to actually have sex this time. She'd rather it be sooner than waiting for him to get hard again if he did come from a hand job. That wasn't the goal right now. Maybe another time, though. Despite herself, she glanced away to see his reaction, catching that he had clenched his jaw tightly, baring his teeth in a last ditch effort to keep quiet. Even his eyes had pinched closed with how concentrated he was on not making a noise. Maybe she could ride him, because she was already getting the vibe he would be hiding his face otherwise…

"Damn it," he growled just as she was considering adding her mouth to the equation. A groan escaped him as well before he opened his eyes, his pupils fully dilated as he tried to glare at her. The look failed as his attention went from her face to her chest and then her hand still fondling him. She kept going as he watched for a few moments, his breathing uncharacteristically heavy. "Stop." The order almost had her holding her hands up, but she just removed the offending hand from him to grab at her own arm awkwardly, not sure if she should get off of him too. "I wish to rid us of our remaining clothes," he further explained, moving to sit up even with her still on him.

She suddenly found herself on her back, staring at the ceiling as his lips ghosted over her neck, leaving light kisses every so often that made her almost shiver. When he reached her chest, he sat up, lifting her leg to cue her to move so he could sit between her thighs. As soon as she complied, he ran his hands down her sides to her hips, fingers pulling at the waistband of her pants, dragging the fabric a bit lower to reveal more skin. She wanted to pass out when he leaned back down, lips brushing over her stomach and then the skin right above where he dragged her pants down to, so close to somewhere more private, before he raised his head to look back at her. After eagerly nodding in a silent show of permission he pulled her pants off of her hips and over her backside before completely slipping them off of her. He tossed them to the side of the bed before looking over her fully naked body as she turned her head to the side, still shyly glancing to see his expression. Focused was about all she got out of his ever blank expression. His eyes held a more than that, certainly entranced as he looked her over, the intensity not from contempt but longing. She felt a little nervous to have his eyes trailing over her entirely bare body for the first time, especially as his hand reached out to spread her legs a bit more, remaining to stroke her thigh as he took in the view. That hand eventually moved up.

"Ulquiorra," she murmured as his fingers brushed the sensitive skin. Upon her reaction, he rubbed the area almost mockingly, fingers just avoiding slipping into her, like he had last time. As pleasurable as this alone was, if he was going to play with her using his fingers, she would rather have him in her again. "Please, Ulquiorra," she begged after a few minutes of his teasing, knowing that complaining hadn't earned her what she wanted any sooner last time. She moaned happily when he inserted a finger. Another entered as soon as he felt how aroused she already was.

"You take a great deal of pleasure in this," he commented rather off-handedly, his fingers still poking around for sensitive area to hit. It took only a second before she gasped, him rubbing the area again and again then. "In me," he added a moment later.

She nodded right away, head spinning with the thought of having more in her soon, what he said almost lost in her desire filled brain. "You're very hot," she muttered when it struck her that he might have meant his words as a question. "A-and good at-" Her moan cut her off when his fingers went a bit deeper, massaging an area that made her almost quiver. Her hand did grip at the blanket under her. As great as this was, she was done messing around. Her words were already failing her as brain gave up on the whole thinking thing. "Good at this," she barely finished before launching right into whining, "I want you, Ulquiorra. Now. Please, just…"

Without her even finishing the request his fingers left her, and he crawled over her to stand so he could quickly drop his pants to the floor. Just as fast, he was back on top of her, hands at the side of her head. His eagerness would've made her laugh if she wasn't so focused on other things. She rested her hands on his shoulders as he lowered himself onto her, her legs then wrapping around his waist to pull his toned body fully against her. He gave her a gentle kiss as he lined himself up to her entrance. At the first trust, she clung to him, not keen on letting him go anytime soon.

* * *

Aracelis fought closing her eyes and falling asleep. She was tired, somewhat sore, but content. Euphoric, even. The only reason she didn't want to sleep was she knew the moment she did, he would be gone like a figment of her imagination. Even if just for a while, she wanted to enjoy him laying on top of her with his face buried in her neck, completely relaxed and silent, seeming on the verge of sleep himself. She wanted to run her hand through his hair, but figured any movement would make him shoot out of bed. He wouldn't stay and cuddle… That disappointed her, yes, but she expected as much. She would've been very surprised if he actually stayed. This had already been more than she expected.

The last few hours- an estimate, really- had been a party. She sort of forgot to take into account they were both hollows with an insane amount of stamina. They only got tuckered out after three rounds of some intense activity. They were both exhausted physically, probably emotionally fatigued too with having to sort through everything they felt while hiding it. She knew she felt that way. Admittedly, she had caused the second go when she refused to let him leave, sitting on top of him and actually starting things again before ending up beneath him once more. The third time had been entirely him, as he apparently couldn't keep his hands to himself while rather sloppily kissing her- he'd finally relaxed by then, or had just given up on trying to police himself at that point. She had hopes that the next time they did this he wouldn't be as tense as he had been earlier. This was something to enjoy, not stress over. And if he kept being stressed by having sex with her, she would be willing to put an end to it. His comfort came before her physical pleasure- even if it was _a lot_ of pleasure to be giving up. Hell, his comfort seemed to come before her own wellbeing in general. If it didn't, she would have demanded to have a talk about their relationship because they were still playing the mixed signals game.

After finishing, he sort of just collapsed on top of her, tired and sweaty for what was probably the first time in his entire hollow life. She didn't say anything, letting him think because that was most likely what he was doing as he lay on her, barely moving. He didn't fall asleep. The only reason she knew was he kept playing with her hair, twirling it around his finger, likely unaware he had begun doing so. She wished he would have fallen asleep so she could have cuddled up with him and done the same. She liked lying beside him, or even with him nearby. She felt more comfortable sensing him nearby as she slept because nothing would happen with him there. She felt safe. Especially with him holding onto her.

And, just like she thought he would, he hid his face as they had sex, deciding to have his cheek pressed to hers the entire time. That's how they ended up laying like this. No expression to be seen with his face next to hers, and he _had_ to be making some expression. At least she could hear his groans and growls with his mouth next to her ear; there came a point when he gave up on trying to be silent. Still quiet and subdued, but not silent. That had been especially amazing the first time as he growled and panted heavily while trying to make her orgasm before he released. Held on like the champion of restraint he was. That really got her. She didn't exactly remember what it felt like, if she had ever had one before- instinct screaming at her while she tried to get herself off had been a failure-, but damn did he wrack her body with waves of pleasure. He had her crying out for him as he thrust into her exactly where it made her tremble _after_ relentlessly teasing her beforehand. Not just once either. Or three times. He made sure she had her fill of fun. As much as she moaned his name, she thought he would let hers slip out at least once, but he never did say it. Not even the first time. Cussed at her as he came, though. Apparently he had a preference for the word 'damn' instead. The second and third had just been growls and groans. At least he didn't call her woman after the first time…

In true Ulquiorra fashion, after the second round, he gave her a random order to fulfill. Apparently it was of the utmost importance that she absorb as much spirit energy as she could over the next few days. No reason why. No further explanations. Just something for her to do without questioning him. Then he started kissing her again, thusly distracting her from any irritation she had at the weird timing of the order. She didn't even feel like trying to ask now. He'd just ignore her question anyway. That left her with doing as she was told, which she would because he had a reason in requesting her to do such. She'd probably not like what he had planned, per usual.

He didn't give any warning that he was getting up, just the feeling of his skin unpeeling from hers because of the sweat, among other things, sticking them together. She caught him touching the skin below his stomach, rubbing his fingers together with his eyebrows knit, positively disgusted with how dirty he was.

"You going to go shower?" She had almost apologized, but, seeing as it was semen on him, it wasn't really her fault. Okay, some of the sweat was hers, but the other stuff was a bit stickier. She would know, considering her thighs were covered. Things had gotten a bit messy, especially the last time when all pretenses were dropped to just screw around without caution. Not that they needed much beyond avoiding injuring their egos by letting some secret slip out of their mouths. Bedding- and the bed itself, really- was easily cleaned, or more likely to be trashed and replaced need be. And forget two dead souls being able to create another life. Actually, that sounded absolutely horrific, like the weird fiction stories humans sometimes made up. That would probably make for a good conversation, actually, with how strange the idea sounded…

He glanced at her after he pulled his pants on, that the piece of clothing the nearest to the bed. "We are filthy with each other's body fluids," he stated flatly in response. "You should do the same." Not an invite to come with, but, considering what would likely happen if she did join him, they wouldn't be getting clean anytime soon. He tossed her pants on her lap before going to retrieve their shirts on the other side of the room. He wanted to get out of there rather quickly it appeared.

"I guess," she muttered as she sat up, sort of cold now that he got off of her. Didn't help that the blanket never made it out from under them. Lazily she got her pants on, frowning as soon as she saw the gaping hole in the thigh from training earlier. At the rate she went through clothes, she'd be out of spares and really have to change the style of clothing she wore. Her shirt smacked her in the face, making her scowl at his back as he pretended he hadn't thrown it at her. With him, it wasn't an accident either. He aimed to hit her face. He put on his shirt while ignoring her so she slipped hers on while glaring at his back.

"Did you have fun, at least?" She asked when he sat on the edge of the bed to put his shoes back on.

He glanced over his shoulder, looking almost annoyed with the question. "You needn't ask something with such an obvious answer." After a pause he added, "If you are unable to see that from the amount of times I ejaculated in you, I will inform you that I thoroughly enjoyed having intercourse with you. I would be interested in doing so again."

She giggled softly, face a bit warm with his bluntness, before saying, "That's good. I'm glad you liked doing me. Just need to get you using slang now because you sound like a textbook." He raised an eyebrow slightly at her. "You're really formal about everything. It'd probably sound a bit… naughtier... if you said it different."

"And how would you have preferred I said my last remark?" She fell silent at his challenge, not wanting to even repeat what he said let alone rephrase it for him. "If you are unwilling to say such, then I see no reason why I should. You seemed pleased enough with how I spoke earlier in any case."

"Yeah," she sighed before grinning. "It _is_ a part of your charm."

With his shoes now on, he stood back up, but didn't leave. Instead he walked to stand beside her, hand tilting her face to look up at him. He gave her a short, chaste kiss that left her smiling at him. "Your meaning of what charm entails is strange." She nodded slightly, agreeing with him. He stared back at her for a short time, hand still resting under her chin. His expression seemed to soften for a second before he glanced away. Just as quickly he freed her chin. As he took a step away his face was as blank as usual. He returned to gathering his things, specifically his zanpakuto, already threatening to leave in the next few moments.

Made her chest hurt, knowing that he'd probably be acting like nothing had occurred the next time they saw each other. Much of the affection he might have otherwise given her would be hidden behind a façade of indifference as he tried to distance himself from her. She'd be happy to _try_ to help him sort through what he felt, because he seemed so confused as to what he wanted still. He would inevitably stick by his original demand of keeping this only physical though, even if it didn't feel like this was _only_ physical. Not when he didn't just take what he wanted while disregarding her and her feelings. Not when he didn't leave her alone immediately after he had his way with her. Not with the small displays of affection he gave her that didn't lead to anything more. Not when he did so many things opposite of how instinct threatened… She didn't like that he seemed so conflicted, that he would try to figure it all out on his own. Even if she needed help sorting this out herself, he didn't need to feel alone with this, and they could try to work through it together. She really wished she knew how to help. If she knew one thing, it was emotions were terrifying to deal with alone... Especially if it was caring about someone else. Damn was she familiar with that.

Before he had a chance to escape she got up, catching the sleeve of his shirt. Instead of turning around, he glanced down at her hand, standing in place. She walked around him once she was sure he wouldn't continue running out the door. He didn't respond when she stepped forward to warp her arms under his, burying her face into his neck as she hugged him for a time. As she pulled away, still resting a hand on his shoulder, she gave him a kiss on the cheek and half smile.

"I just wanted one," she said when he stared at her in question. "See you later, Ulquiorra?"

His hand covered hers briefly, gently squeezing her fingers, nodding his head ever so slightly, before he lifted her hand to drop it at her side. He quickly left the room without another word or a second glance.

* * *

 **A/N- Just when I think something isn't going to be long, it ends up being the longest chapter. I'm glad I got it done, though, because I am starting classes again this week, so… Yeah, the update schedule is in the air right now. I've got some higher level classes (don't think they'll be bad, but never know), an art show to prepare for, and I'm still working too. Probably update every two weeks or so, unless it gets too chaotic (especially when midterms or finals are going). So, yep, we'll see how this goes.**

 **As for this chapter, have Aracelis' view on the recent change. The coming chapters won't be nearly as sexual because I believe I've given enough of an idea of how each thinks during it by this point. One more chapter (another longer one) before the canon starts spiraling out of control. Ulquiorra's had something planned for a while, aside from sleeping with her, that needs to come to fruition, especially after so boldly hinting that he figured out Mirro is talking with Aracelis and the cause of much of her hesitation. And I had the chance to show Mirro is rather crude now, which had been harder to do until I changed the rating, and important since he's been showing up lately.**

 **Thank you to Tpblue1, FictionFanatic1218, dj1154, TheArdisaur, AcediaPrototype, Starawesomeness2, The Overlord's 8th Bride, SoraMythos9276, Last Assassin's Shadow, and KitsuneSenpai18 for following and/or favoriting! And to everyone reading! Seriously, so many views since last chapter, thank you so much.**

 **Deviant Art** **\- Why thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed them! Also, I hope you've enjoyed reading the story, and get to this point to see this!**

 **Sissy** **\- Haha, yeah that was a chapter to come back to all right. Emotional intimacy is a struggle for the two, that's for sure. Ulquiorra does need a proverbial knock to the head about now… Whooo, questions! Okay, #1, will he have competition? Didn't plan on it, honestly, because if she liked someone as much as she likes him, he would push her away so he doesn't have to deal with those deadly** _ **feelings**_ **she causes him. Even if he felt jealous, master of self-control would let her do as she wants or what he perceives as best for her. And #2, I definitely plan on continuing with chapters in Karakura- I actually started with that when planning, and the past section got wild because of the character development to be done before actually reaching the Karakura part. This is a very long story, let me tell you (not sure total yet, just long.) And I'm mean to my characters, but not** _ **that**_ **mean as to have Aracelis not go back. As for wanting to do a story of your own… I'd say if you like the idea you have and are worried about thinking things through, try to come up with an end goal, then have a general/flexible plan for the middle- I've changed a lot of things as I've gone, and added what reviewers have pointed out to improve the idea or fix mistakes. Having a plan to refer to helps you not get stuck as bad too. If you have the time and want to try it out, just go for it, really. I hope you enjoy your vacation! Thanks for reviewing and I'm happy you're enjoying the story!**

 **haipa-chan** **\- But Mirro is the voyeur of voyeurs! He's done it for so damn long, he knows nothing else! I mean, he's got more reasons for not leaving, like Ulquiorra killing him because he has dug himself a whole in threatening Aracelis, but is very possessive of her to the point of it being irrational –fear does that to a hollow. And we all know that I'll never spill my nefarious plans! Your guess is certainly an interesting one considering some of those elements come to play:) Certainly Mirro played a role in her human past, but** _ **how**_ **remains the question. And yeah, both were very angry with the interruption last time, but made up for it this chapter, that's for sure. They're both still awkward as hell though, especially when master of bluntness says things. Aracelis expected it, but she does enjoy his quirks to begin with. And** _ **I swear**_ **, after the next chapter, I get to the fetching process and canon. Just one more thing needs to be done, I swear. Glad you enjoyed last chapter so much, and hope you enjoyed this one! Thanks for reviewing again and again!**

 **TheShyScorpio?-** **Yeah, they still have some confusion, but Ulquiorra's not doubting that she finds him attractive as much as wondering why she would want to stay with him when he continually acts like an ass towards her, and she just doubts his attraction sometimes just because Mirro's incessant chattering; she's gotten a bit better, especially when Mirro is quieted. And Ulquiorra, he is struggling with giving up** _ **any**_ **control, which happens with Aracelis all the time. Keeping him character has come down to him being EXTEMELY reluctant (hence how long the story is) but still doing things against his 'better judgement' anyways because he, deep down, cares about her. Developing him is a fun challenge I'm glad I took on, Aracelis a tool to reach my goal. Glad you agree that its annoying when characters get two seconds of development just before offing them, especially because Ulquiorra was who Ichigo had been fighting for most of the Arrancar Arc (other than Grimmjow); Ulquiorra almost symbolized the Arrancar army as a whole to Ichigo- he thought he lead them even- and just… ugh, it could have been so much better. I'm really hoping to improve how that went. And no problem, I like explaining things! Mirro's is very hollow-like because fear drives him above all else, his possessiveness of Aracelis because she is what stands between him and the world. Keeping her submissive is survival in his mind. And if Ulquiorra actually knew what he was saying to Aracelis and about him, Ulquiorra would be livid and priority #1 wouldn't be serving Aizen anymore. So, yeah, glad you're enjoying the story and development, and thank you for reviewing once more!**

 **thestormwriter123-** **You know? You were totally right, Ulquiorra would have made the connection by now. It actually worked out well to add that in here, so thank you very much for pointing that out! Because yeah, totally agree, and got a better idea for later! Now they got what they wanted –sort of. Aracelis still wants his love, while he is still freaked out that he likes her** _ **and**_ **that she likes him. And college… The bane of my writing returns, so I certainly understand being busy with it. Hope everything is going well for you other than being busy! Thank you for reviewing!**


	28. Chapter 28- Realization

After a long time staring blankly at the page of a book, Aracelis sighed in defeat. Reading about soul reapers could only be tolerable for so long. Especially because they had so many nonsense rules and regulations that ended up mixed into every other aspect of their existence. She moved the book out of the way to plant her face into the blanket. In her bored brain she decided to put the book, still open to keep her place, on her head until she had the motivation to go back to it. Considering she had snagged it from Ulquiorra, she probably should have closed it and put it on a nightstand or something instead of being weird. Of course the second she had nothing in front of her, her brain wandered off on a path it shouldn't have.

It'd been two and a half-days since their first time. She wished she could say she was fully content with all the attention he had been giving her since, as they had been quite 'busy' with each other doing a number of things, but she had a strange sense of disappointment that hung over her head with the unnerving presence of a storm cloud about to spark with lightning. And she hated lightning. Sure, sleeping with him felt physically fantastic- he'd caught on _very_ quickly-, it was just… He never broke his façade for even a few seconds. Still as mentally distant as ever, even when he physically couldn't be closer. When he said no discussion he had meant it. He'd acknowledge that they had slept together at least. If he denied even that much, she'd really lose her mind. Then again, with how he would leave five seconds afterwards, or throw her clothes at her and offhandedly tell her to leave, it diminished any happiness she had at the fact he didn't deny it. He just kept teetering endlessly between passion and indifference that even she couldn't keep up. She'd go from ecstasy at him give her so much affection like he adored her to feeling absolutely alone when he left her like she had just been another task to complete. Pathetically she was starting to recognize she felt a pang of rejection every time he left her to deal with her unrequited feelings alone, even if he _did_ feel something for her, making it all the more confusing. It was just too jarring to go from him being openly affectionate to colder than before. Yes, she could go up and kiss him, but that was completely one-sided. She couldn't even get him to return a hug… He didn't initiate anything unless he wanted something. Recently that meant her body, but he probably would try to coerce her into something through sex if he saw the need. She had no idea how he managed to stay apathetic after all the things she did for him either. She'd had the man shaking with pleasure yet he could return to pretending it meant nothing the next time he saw her. He still hid his face… and he never said her name.

This was beginning to feel like a mistake… She'd hoped that maybe this could distract her from her problems, from the confusion. Help her pretend everything was fine, emotional anguish buried far beneath physical pleasure as she waited for him to figure things out. Instead it made her feel worse. _So much worse_. As soon as the novelty of letting her desires run wild wore off, she was left with the fact she felt like utter shit when it came to him acting indifferent towards her. It'd been more bearable when she didn't have him in bed with her. The second she did that she opened herself up to a world of disappointment when he inevitably went back to ignoring her after screwing around with her. She shouldn't have agreed. She regretted it, and felt awful that she would. She liked having sex with him, because he actually seemed to give a damn while they were, she just hadn't been ready to deal with the emotional turmoil it apparently brought forth when he ran off.

She loved him. At this point, she figured love was the only damn thing to call how she felt because it went way beyond liking. Somehow that managed to make her _miserable_. They were in a _war_. As much as she liked to forget that fact, Ulquiorra would be fighting against who knows how many soul reaper elite. He wasn't invincible. He could get hurt. He could… He could even die. The thought of losing him again made her eyes water. She hadn't cried in _forever_ and the mere thought upset her to such a degree it brought tears to her eyes. Death pervaded every aspect of Hueco Mundo, and hollows should have _no_ problem dealing with the inevitability that others died. Stupid human emotions. How the hell did weaker creatures deal with this? Last time had been devastating, but, because she apparently loved him now, it would _destroy_ her to lose him. Her chest ached just thinking about it- that had been getting worse too. She was way too attached to him. She wasn't ready to deal with that much emotional pain, or even just _worrying_ about him being mortally injured or killed. Which she shouldn't be worrying for him the first place because he was _so_ much more powerful than her. She should be worried for herself like a good, selfish hollow with no damn sense of empathy.

And she agreed to keep quiet about how she felt like an idiot. This wasn't like it used to be, when they had literal decades or _centuries_ to come to terms with the fact they may have taken a turn away from hollow nature at some point in evolution and come to care for a being aside from themselves. As much as she had wanted to wait for him to come to some sort of revelation by himself, they just didn't have that kind of time. Look how long it took her to get to this point, and she didn't despise emotions like her ever stubborn rationalist did. That left her with the fact she couldn't even let him know that she loved him, that she cared for him so much, and that he could tell her too without her judging him. With him, he would go into some sort of vehement denial about having feelings to begin with, and then ditch her if she prodded or said anything. He made this so difficult, but he… He honestly seemed like he needed someone to help him through the confusion. No matter how much he tried to hide it, he was struggling to come to terms with this himself. Dealing with this alone, it felt awful; she would know. She didn't want him to feel alone…

The sound of the door opening and closing made her stiffen. She barely even relaxed at the fact it was Ulquiorra barging in. No matter how dumb it would look to have a book on her head, she was happy it was there. It gave her a few precious moments to get her emotions back under control to act like nothing was wrong. Eventually she grabbed the book before sitting up, Ulquiorra standing nearby, wordlessly waiting for her undivided attention. Her eyes remained on the familiar white tiles of the floor.

"You need to learn how to knock," she grumbled, it the truth. His entitlement to walking into her room irked her a bit because she afforded him some sense of privacy. She hadn't snuck into his room uninvited since he had been on his excursion to the human world. He just kept walking in whenever he pleased. "What'd you need?" Her attention finally went from the floor to his face at his continued to stare silence. He was more serious than usual, standing with absolutely the best posture, hands not even in his pockets. The way his eyes and face both remained stone-like unnerved her. "Usually you'd be on top of me by now," she half-heartedly joked, trying to lighten the tense mood that clung to him.

He completely ignored her comment, the only word he had for her being 'follow.' She reluctantly stood up, refusing to move from her spot as she narrowed her eyes at him while internally freaking out. One word commands usually meant he was pissed. She didn't know what happened that he appeared so irritated either. Until this point he had been in his room, no one showing up to inform him of any mishap in Aizen's schemes. When she refused to move as he walked up to her, he grabbed her wrist and began dragging her towards the window. "We're leaving Las Noches."

After tugging at her arm to show she was not appreciating his pushiness, she sourly asked, "Why? What are we doing?" It's not like he would be running away with her. When they reached the window he let her go, not answering, jumping down and expecting her to follow obediently. Which she did despite her better judgement. With how insistent he was right now, he'd probably just grab her and seriously drag her wherever they were off to. "Come on, seriously, where are we going? Ulquiorra, you're making me nervous."

While he didn't answer, he glanced over his shoulder for a second. She caught a glimpse of his eyes softening, the look pitying almost. It only severed to freak her out more. He kept walking for a bit longer before breaking the silence of his creation. "Keep your spiritual pressure low. Keep all trace of us concealed. Do not fall behind."

"Fine," she snapped, still doing as told. She'd hoped for, you know, an explanation, not another order. It was a curious command though. He didn't want anyone to know they left, taking advantage of her ability and everything. Was that why he seemed on edge? Leaving without permission? Surely that wouldn't get him into much trouble considering his rank and standing with Aizen. He seemed to be a favorite of their _illustrious_ leader's; he could probably get away with mass murder if he wanted. So why was he acting so cautious? When he started using sonido, she copied, keeping pace for once, almost at his side. Maybe he'd requested her store up energy for this exact reason. That meant he'd planned on this outing for a while. "What are we doing?" she tried again, her voice laced with worry as they got a distance away from Las Noches.

"Training."

She swallowed thickly before biting her lip, not liking the sound of this. With how standoffish he was, and that they had to leave Las Noches to do this apparent training, it made her anxious. The further they went, the worse the anxiety got. His silence didn't help. It was far from comfortable, the atmosphere created by his demeanor more terrifying and gloomy than it needed to be. Seeing him acting so cold to her, the one thing he apparently cared about in any sense, scared her above all else. Whatever he had planned, she dreaded to find out. She'd rather have a sword play lesson for twenty four hours than be out here right now.

They went about two hours away from Las Noches, a great distance considering the speed at which they traveled. The palace wasn't even in view anymore. That's how far they had gone. Ulquiorra suddenly came to a stop ahead of Aracelis, leaving her to skid in the sand to slow down before she overshot where he decided they would be training. With how far they had gone from the palace, it would take something catastrophic for anyone to sense them. Like, something would have to explode with the energy of several hundred ceros fired at once. She didn't take comfort in that.

She paced over to him, arms over her chest in a sad attempt to calm herself rather than annoyance at his continued silence. His acknowledgement of her consisted solely of him drawing his sword to point it at her. His unsaid command made her hesitantly drop her arms to the side. She almost wanted to laugh when her hand was shaking as she reached for the hilt of her blade. His demeanor alone had been enough to intimidate her into pathetically trembling. How far she'd fallen as a fighter… Her fingers gripped the hilt tightly as she drew her sword to hold it in front of her, prepared for him to come after her like he always did.

But he didn't move. Instead he let his spiritual pressure flare, the sudden increase making her breath hitch for a second. What he was doing right now, it was meant to subjugate weaker hollows by paralyzing them with the purest form of instinctual fear as they were crushed to the ground. She swallowed nervously again, trying to draw in more energy, afraid that she didn't have enough from the last few days to fight him like this. Even then, he remained in place, stone cold eyes watching her with a level of disregard that made her want to run.

"Enclose, Murciélago."

A rain of tangible spiritual energy fell down, the dim green glow erasing the sky momentarily. She held her breath, the display as suffocating as the first time she witnessed it. Her body froze as she watched, as she waited for his form to shift to the horned creature with ever black wings to stand before her clothed in the palest of whites. Her sight seemed to sharpen as she stared on with contracted pupils, body willing her to run from the powerful hollow before her. There was no way she could fight him like this. Whatever training he thought to accomplish, she couldn't. It was simply impossible.

He waited for her to breathing to even after she remembered she had been holding it. While she expected him to immediately attack, to play with her like he usually did to test her skills, he kept in the same spot, flapping his dark wings as if remembering the feeling, eyes glancing away from her only to watch as he flexed his clawed fingers.

"Use your resurrección." When she hesitated, he narrowed his eyes, adding "Achieve it through whatever means necessary. Just know that I will not stand here waiting indefinitely."

There was no room to argue. She stared at her sword, having nothing to command the blade into its release. Her zanpakuto remained an infuriating hunk of useless metal no matter how heated the glare she gave it was.

' _You think I'd let you waste energy? There's no need. Deal with it, girl.'_ Instinct huffed when she thought back on all the other training sessions and how many injuries she had gotten, how not letting her use her resurrección also lead to her beingseverely injured by Ellzea and Clematis, and how Ulquiorra would shred her to bits in his release if she didn't gain a more substantial boost than absorbing radiant energy alone. _'Nope. Don't care. You'd waste more energy in your resurrección than healing any injuries he gives you. It's not like the bastard will hurt you too badly anyway. Not unless he wants his bed warmer defaced even more.'_

"I-I can't use it," she reported back to Ulquiorra with desperate eyes begging him not to go after her like this.

"So be it." He glanced away from her again in favor of staring up at the moon for a few moments. The way the light shown off his pale skin and was swallowed up by his inky hair and imposing wings, he was such a beautiful and deadly predator. If the circumstances were different, she would have enjoyed telling him so, or admiring for a while longer. She could only silently wait for him to attack her. His tone hadn't reassured her of her safety at all. Like this… Like this it would so easy for him to destroy her. Even if he didn't kill her, she would be in for an immense amount of pain. He didn't seem in a forgiving mood. "There is something I wish to confirm," he started again, attention slowly drifting back to her and away from the sliver of silver in the dark sky. His eyes glared at her with no mercy as his spiritual pressure managed to increase more, the force already threatening to make her legs shake. "Prepare yourself. Do not let your fear paralyze you. Do not falter under my presence. If you hesitate, it could mean forfeiting your life."

His warnings sounded far away as the spiritual energy crashed down in a wave over her, the sky turned entirely black, the air choking as his spiritual pressure covered the area in an ocean of tangible energy like nothing she had ever seen. Her legs buckled beneath her as her body shook, hair standing on end as panic rose in her chest and her breathing became ragged. Her eyes contracted to small points as she witnessed something beyond words. Beyond reason. Even as his transformation reached its completion, she remained terrified, ready to pass out as her entire body trembled, tears forming in her eyes as everything in her body screamed for her to flee while she couldn't even blink under the pressure.

His form had changed: he had grown taller, thinner, his sharpened claws gleaming in the dim green light that still swam in the air, his tail whipping behind him, dark fur covering much of his body, a black blood stain seeping down from his hollow hole across his bare, more skeletal chest, the blackest wings stretched out behind him, lengthened hair laid across his face, and impressive horns so resembling bat ears rising from his head. Most shocking to her was the change in his eyes, how his irises shifted to brilliant gold surround by dark green sclera, his markings darker and wider. He was a breathtaking vision of death. Soul reapers, they didn't deserve the title of god of death. No, the title befit the demon with god-like power in front of her so much more. Truly despair inspiring in that _nothing_ could hope to challenge the sheer oppressive power he radiated. With how the energy crashed down so relentlessly, nothing else could be sensed, its terrible power fully enclosing her in a cage of primal fear. The way the sky had been lost only made it feel more like a void, emptier than anything she had ever experienced. Even if she could force words out of her fear closed throat, nothing could explain the awe and horror she felt in the presence of the incomprehensible.

' _What… What the hell is... is this?'_ Even instinct's voice shook in reverent fear of Ulquiorra. ' _H-how did...? Why?'_ instinct sputtered, pitch off, lower and deeper, and no longer a perfect match to hers. _'What the hell is this_ _ **thing**_ _!? This power is… I don't…'_

Ulquiorra glared down at her shaking form as her body still refused to move from her spot in the sand. "You've stopped drawing in energy," he pointed out blandly, not even explaining what the hell or how the hell he managed to… to… She didn't even know what to call this.

For a moment she focused on dutifully and consciously making an effort to absorb some of the radiant energy. The first few traces made her involuntarily shudder, the sudden weight of the sky lessening as she attempted to reach some sort of equilibrium between the energy swirling around and her own body. Oddly it felt numbingly cold. The more she took in, the more her body felt numbed to the indescribable fear she'd felt under the ocean of spiritual pressure. If she had one guess to the cause, it was because as she took in more of the energy, her body claimed it as her own, making her apathetic towards its presence. Eventually she stumbled to her feet. Her breathing remained unsteady, body near shivering with the chill she had caught.

He appeared satisfied that she had made it to her feet, his voice breaking the silence when she still could not find the energy to speak. Had she tried, her voice would have been a whisper cracking in fear. "You are the first to bear witness to this form. This second stage to my resurrección, I wish to test its capabilities." Even if he didn't say it, he may have well added 'against you.' "Perhaps it will force you to achieve your own resurrección."

"Ulquiorra," she forced out, taking a step back. "I d-don't wa-want to fight you l-like this. I c-can't. Y-you're too st-strong, I…" This wouldn't even be training. He'd fling her around like a rag doll. That's it. She couldn't even put up resistance. Instinct already said no to using her resurrección and that was the only way she saw of getting out of this with _less_ injuries.

"I know." His answer made her stomach drop, a lump forming in her throat. He didn't care if she had no hope of fending him off. It had been his intention to cruelly place her in a situation of peril to force the conditions she'd faced last time when she had been horribly poisoned and burned. Everything short of killing her, that's what he would do. "Prepare yourself," he ordered again, strange gold eyes narrowing at her. At her nod, his knees bent slightly.

Her arm lay on the ground. The pain hadn't even reached her brain as she stared at the severed limb in horror, blood spurting out of the wound. She had no idea when he moved. Just as the sting began, her arm started regenerating. While the arm reformed she panicked to find him, using sonido in hopes her other arm wasn't taken just as the first had healed. At least her regeneration was working for once. She'd need it.

A cut off gasp escaped her as he suddenly reappeared in front of her, wing smacking her in the gut to send her flying. Her feet hit the ground, barely keeping her standing as she coughed relentlessly, air knocked from her lungs, several ribs shattered to pieces. Much more painful than the arm being severed. Even that healed quickly. If she hadn't had his spiritual pressure to feed off of, this would have had her passing out on the ground already considering her faulty regen and abysmal control over herself.

Eventually she'd had her arms removed several times, ribs shattered over and over, leg snapped in half twice, and presumably a fractured skull just short of causing a concussion. She decided that some of the pain had been numbed by the nature of his spiritual pressure, so long as the wound wasn't internal. Ribs in the lungs made her want to vomit still. He came in and out of her vision, a blur now visible to her as he moved, the limits of her pesquisa stretched to the maximum only to see the nondescript shadow of his form a fraction before he struck. His claws, they were ruthlessly sharp. His wings felt like a stone wall slamming into her whenever he flung them outward. And his tail, she hated his tail with a passion. He'd grab her and throw her around the sky like a toy, nearly playing catch with her as he tossed her and then out sped her flailing form, taking a limb off or smashing a bone when he caught her again. Tired didn't describe how she felt. Even with all the energy swirling around, it all went to regeneration and pathetic attempts to escape. He never let her leave the immediate area. She tried. She tried running away when she saw he seriously meant to pound her into the ground to get her into her resurrección. The only perceivable positive was he hadn't used any energy attacks. She'd hate for that to change as instinct barred her from using her resurrección. Ulquiorra would escalate the situation if he didn't get what he wanted.

'Can I use it yet?' she mentally screeched at instinct again, hoping for an actual response. Not more silence like the last fifty times she'd asked.

 _No! He won't kill you, so just shut up and take it._

Her right arm fell to the ground again, this time his claws almost slicing into her shoulder with how high he aimed. He'd been progressively chopping higher and higher at her right arm. The other he just went at what was convenient. A wave of nauseating pain hit her as she clutched at the wound, stifling a scream, while her body worked on healing it again- the process had begun to slow, sadly. Her chest ached from not being able to take enough air in. And from holding back screams. Her throat would be raw if she had actually made a noise at all the pain inflicted on her so far. Specifically on her right arm, the pain getting worse and worse with every injury to it. Every other wound had an edge of numbness to it that she was grateful for. She would have passed out long ago otherwise.

"How… about… now?" she asked, breathing hard, not even caring she'd said it out loud.

' _No. Now just be quiet and let me enjoy all the energy radiating off of him, will you? I'm sick of hearing you whine.'_ The tone sounded absolutely dismissive, like instinct would be waving a hand while glancing away from her as it spoke. _'Maybe offer your filthy body to him to get him to stop,'_ it added snottily like the brat it was. _'He miraculously seems to like it.'_

"Seriously, what's so bad about using it!?" she shouted as she tried to distance herself from Ulquiorra again. Not that it would matter. "You'd rather I get sliced to damn pieces than let me use if for two damn seconds, you prick!?" As Ulquiorra grabbed her leg he pulverized the bone, his nails creating a line of bloody wounds, all before he threw her the opposite direction as she yelled, "I'm going to die eventually if you don't let me!"

' _Shut it! He wouldn't kill his precious little whore!'_ Instinct seethed, growling for a few seconds before adding through what almost sounded like gritted teeth, ' _So be quiet, lay down, and wait for it to be over. We're not-'_

An earsplitting scream sounded as his claws tore into her shoulder, arm from the joint down dropping to the ground before slowly decaying to reishi under the ocean of energy. Before Aracelis could even begin hyperventilating from the pain his tail wrapped around her, crushing her chest to force out any remaining air. She met the ground in a wave of displaced sand as the impact created a sizable crater for her to lay in absolute misery in. Immediately she coughed up blood, not even aware of what exactly had caused it. Everything felt broken. Her arm was still gone as she shifted to healing more dire internal wounds. This. This was the most pain she had ever experienced in her entire existence. Her shoulder being sliced into hurt more than her gut being _dissolved_ by poison. Damn weak point. At least instinct had screeched in anguish along with her.

The second he landed next to her she started mouthing for him to stop, unable to actually speak. Pathetically the only sounds escaping her were agony filled moans and shaky whines as she held back tears. She couldn't even find the energy to turn her head to look up at him pleadingly. Her vision threatened to black out, it already blurring to a jumble of white and black splotches. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep. She just worried he wouldn't stop, that he'd keep battering her or wait for her to wake to keep going to reach his goal.

"Aracelis," he said rather softly considering the coldness earlier, "if you can no longer bare the pain, then sleep." Her lips wanted to twitch to smile at the mercy he'd offered her for once. "Allow your consciousness to slip away for a time."

' _Just pass out, bitch,'_ instinct snapped at her, tone brimming with rage. _'Apparently the bastard is insistent about having a chat.'_

In seconds of instinct's demand her body went limp, eyes closing to the world, more than happy to be unconscious.

* * *

Ulquiorra landed next to her as she writhed in pain, mouthing for him to stop as she cried out on the verge of tears. He wanted nothing more than for her to pass out. Before this, he had tried to mentally distance himself from her, from caring for her, but every time she screamed he'd wanted to stop the façade and give up on getting the parasite to take over to speak with the creature because he was by default harming her. He did not like her in such duress, he decided once more. The fact he was causing it made the _feeling_ of _guilt_ worse. Her pain, he despised that she made him feel sympathetic to it. The guilt far outweighed the irritation though… This was more difficult than he imagined it would be. Her situation, however, had somehow driven him to such desperate measures as these.

It, or rather _he_ as Clematis had divulged, could speak with Aracelis directly. That level of consciousness, Ulquiorra had hoped- as silly as a sentiment as it was- that the parasite could not hold such ability. Being aware, that had simply meant it could react to outward stimuli and gather information. Actually speaking with her, responding to her in what appeared to be full conversations -observed from her earlier shouting-, it meant the parasite likely had direct access to her brain as well as her nervous system. Tearing it out of her forcibly, he had believed before that it would simply affect her nerves and muscles for a time before her regeneration fixed the damage. Now that he knew it had a connection with her brain, tearing it out would either fully paralyze her as it caused permanent brain damage, of which would be impossible to heal by even the most advanced regeneration, or kill her.

Had Ulquiorra been aware of this sooner, if he had noticed her _blatantly obvious_ behavior hinting at this instead of ignoring it, he would have had more time to find a proper solution opposed to a temporary one. Aizen's plans had come too far now for him to… to waste time trying to help her. For now, until everything was over, this was pathetically the best he could do. He hated that the most, that this woman could make him regret not helping her when he owed her no such curtesy. Ignoring Aizen's orders were a death sentence; disobeying orders to help Aracelis was wholly irrational, _yet how he wanted to._

"Aracelis," he said, his tone not as harsh as usual, making his eyes narrow at his own voice failing him, "if you can no longer bare the pain, then sleep. Allow your consciousness to slip away for a time." Other than beating her further, he wanted the parasite to take control like it had when it went to meet with Aizen. By now it must have taken the hint that he was aware of it. That besides testing Segunda Etapa, this was all a threat display. Intimidating it or angering it, he figured that was how to gets its attention. The simplest way to do that had been injuring her but…

Even if it appeared she had taken on features of his abilities through the energy she took, such as numbness to external wounds aside from her right arm, as he noted earlier, she had endured more than enough of this abuse. Her ability, without the parasite limiting it so severely and her emotions clouding her judgement, she would be a powerful hollow worthy of being an Espada. Not only had she the ability to draw in energy, she took on aspects of its origin, not only having her pain dulled because of his spiritual energy- as he could not feel much pain in this form, proven when he tore off his own arm and felt nothing, all when she had been distracted by a head injury he regretted giving her-, but also her speed increasing to the point she could still give the slightest twitch before he cut into her and her regenerative ability had kept up with the sheer number of injuries she had sustained. A while ago the parasite had redirected all the energy from being absorbed into her body to only her shoulder, the greedy creature feeding off of it, the effects fading and her returning to her normal capabilities. Whenever Aracelis stopped paying attention to drawing in energy, she lost control of the ability to the parasite apparently. He'd proven that when he ordered her to absorb energy while having sex the other day; the parasite had left her alone then, not wishing to witness the act if he had a guess. She then had control over the ability, and would be more prepared to handle regenerating so many wounds. That had been his plan.

She eagerly took the advice, her body going limp only a few seconds after he had spoken. Her shoulder became the sole focus of energy siphoning immediately.

Her body suddenly jolted up, sword lashing out at him as she snarled like a feral beast. He glared as his fingers wrapped around the blade, the weapon almost appearing to move in slow motion with how sluggish and sloppy the attack was. Certainly not Aracelis anymore. She abandoned her efforts with the sword just as the blade began to crack, instead raising her other hand. Before she had her palm open his tail captured her, bringing her arms to her side. A tight squeeze revealed that the parasite, while in control of her, felt the pain in her stead. That further proved its worrisome connection to her entire nervous system rather than just her shoulder.

For a few seconds it just glared at him, helplessly struggling to pull free from his crushing grip. It did not seem to want to use her resurrección as last attempt of escaping him. It eventually dropped the sword to the ground. While he doubted that it would use her resurrección because it saw that he could easily recapture it no matter what, it was intelligent enough to know to not say, or even silently mouth, her sword's command and name for him. He would tell her.

"You sure you want to hurt your precious little whore?" it asked through gritted teeth to attempt to hide the pain. Ulquiorra almost let it show how taken aback he felt by the crudeness of its words paired the sound of Aracelis's voice filled with such a scornful tone. She _never_ spoke like this, even to enemies. No wonder it chose not to speak when they had fought before; he would have immediately recognized it as someone else. "Or are you more concerned about messing up your fuck toy? That'd be a loss for you, huh? This whore is the only thing willing to bed the likes of you after all. Not that the same doesn't apply to her. Seriously, how do you stomach being around her?" As it laughed in her voice, he felt more offended because this _thing_ would dare to mock him while using language on par with Nnoitra's foul mouth. "She's not much to look at, and her whiny personality is so obnoxious. Always bitching about everything. Such a useless hollow. Using her body is about all she's worth. Food. Sex. She's a piece of meat to us both."

To think that it spoke to Aracelis like this constantly… It made him more than irritated. If one thing completely infuriated him, the ire of which he'd _never_ experienced before, it was the fact this degenerate spoke to, and of, Aracelis with such disrespect. To call her such things, to say she was just… just a toy to him… To say she was worthless besides using for selfish gain… And to make her so unsure of herself, he didn't want to know what else this immoral cretin said to her.

He slammed it into the ground when it dared attempt to add. As long as it was the one feeling the pain and not Aracelis, then he would still use it as a way to coerce the parasite. "Leave her," he commanded, getting to the point whereas this creature seemed to enjoy stalling as much as the weed had. It had meant to distract him with its words. He would not allow it to do so again. "Perhaps then I would show mercy towards such a pitiful being as you." A lie. He would destroy this creature given the chance.

It scoffed at him. "Or what? You'll kill her? You care about her way to much too just kill her if I don't leave. No, if anyone should be flinging around threats, it's me. I own her," it snapped. "She's been mine for longer than you've been alive, bastard!"

His tail tightened its hold again, threatening to snap bones at it claiming ownership of her. He had rarely ever experienced such anger towards something, but this _thing_ , it made him want to dismember it in a sea of blood. Of course Aracelis would be at the center of such emotional response. As disturbed as he was by the fact she elicited this sort of response from him, he would act on it if he had the opportunity. This disgusting creature deserved it. Especially since it had been plaguing her for so long.

"I could kill her if I want," it continued with a smug grin. "It'd be so easy. I-"

"If you kill her, then you lose the only protection you have," he interrupted, voice _just_ remaining level and aloof. Aracelis was the only reason that he didn't tear this thing apart right now. He didn't want to hurt her, so the thing that had nearly taken her life on occasion had the only one he cared for unknowingly protecting it. When she had been fighting with Grimmjow, it had tried to escape because it assumed Ulquiorra wouldn't come help her. In her battle so long ago against Ggio, it believed she would lose and had been attempting to kill her to run, until he arrived and saved her. Then, during the battle that forced them apart, it had been trying to flee her under the assumption he would kill her, and after he left her to die it found itself left in an injured body while surrounded by enemies, so it woke her up to run. A simple fear driven creature. A hollow, one of lesser intelligence at that. He understood hollows. He could manipulate hollows. "Behind this arrogance, you understand the vast differences in our power. You are as insignificant as a grain of sand. A flea easily crushed. You hide behind her power. Aracelis remains the sole reason you continue to live. Without her you are nothing but a frail parasite afraid to leave the safety of a host. I will find a way to rid her of you. I will erase you." His words were a promise. After the war, he would tear this disgusting creature apart. "The moment you revealed you intention to harm her was when you forfeited your life."

"Wh-what about Aizen?" it shot back, apparently unnerved by what he said. Good. That is what he wished. As long as it didn't try to kill Aracelis, if it were too afraid of him to leave her protection by harming her, this was a minuscule amount better. At least she would be alive. This would serve as a compromise for the time being. If killing her to escape became less appealing under the threat of imminent death at his hands, then it was what needed to be done. She would be safer until he could find a way to remove it. "He wouldn't just let you get away with killing me! I have orders from him! We have a deal!"

"You think yourself important?" he said coldly, his eyes narrowed. "Whatever orders you received are trivial. You have not been active since meeting with him, yet there have been no repercussions. Lord Aizen, he made no effort to find you at the start of this, to have you join his elite." Aizen lied. Aizen manipulated. These were truths that even the dumbest of the Espada could see. Whatever Aizen had promised the parasite, it had been a lie to get it to obediently follow orders. It'd been deception to recruit it under the impression he had assisted it in reaching some goal. If this creature actually fell for it, it was less intelligent than Yammy. "You are nothing more than a novelty. I know not the arrangement you may have forged with him, but it means nothing as you are a pathetic creature that cannot maintain control over a single body indefinitely, even following the use of the Hogyoku. You are expendable." Aracelis, she had the interesting ability. Not the parasite. If anything, the parasite prevented her from actually being useful, and, if Aizen actually wished to use her for anything, killing the parasite would be child's play for him. Aizen knew how the parasite and host relationship worked, likely from the source itself, he was sure. Ulquiorra didn't have such an advantage. One wrong move on his part and she'd be mortally injured or dead. Not that beseeching Aizen for help was a viable option considering the man apparently found his and Aracelis' relationship to be amusing. The same applied to Clematis. He was alone on this.

"Th-that…" it stuttered, wordless in response to his observations. After a moment of letting its mouth indignantly hang open, waiting to find its words to counter with, it growled, glancing away from him. "You _are_ a lot nicer to her…" it muttered bitterly under its breath. It uncomfortably squirmed to free itself from his tail again, failing. Then it briefly grinned like an idea struck it. "Ulquiorra, please, let go. You're hurting me," she, no it, begged, tone matching Aracelis's, the pleasing expression on her face making him almost drop her. Instead he crushed her body more, one of her arms snapping as it unnaturally bent, a few ribs making a sickening crunch as he squeezed. He wouldn't be fooled so easily… How low, trying to trick him using her body and voice as a tool. Even if he knew better, he hated that pleading tone of hers to such a degree that he felt his face slip from neutrality as he heard it. She had way too much control over him…

"D-damn," it coughed, "I thought that'd get you. Made you hesitate though," it pointed out with a smirk. The bones began to mend, showing it too had access to the ability. That it could potentially interfere with it. Like when he had fought her before... "I still have one more advantage." Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes at the creature as its grin grew- he despised that it could contort Aracelis's face into such unnatural expressions. She could be vicious, but this arrogant look of smugness the parasite made her wear was unbefitting of her in every way. "I could tell everyone about this second form of yours. You bragged that she was the only one to see it. You came all the way out here to try it out, holding back from ceros or that lance you used on the moth. You don't want anyone to know about this, do you? I'd just-"

He cut it off by slamming it into the ground again. The fact it screamed hadn't reassured him any that the pain had reached its miniscule brain. No, the sound of her voice caused an ache in his chest that nearly scared him in its familiarity. It felt like when he had believed he'd killed her… He would to put an end to this conversation soon.

"You wouldn't hurt her too badly." It spat out blood before it laughed a few times. "Actually, I have a better threat anyway. How about I tell her that you crawled into that tree to pathetically kill yourself?"

Ulquiorra blankly stared at it as it launched into a round of raucous cackles. How did it know? Aracelis didn't have any idea… And it hadn't concluded this on its own considering it certainly wasn't smarter than Aracelis. Clematis? Aizen? Who told this thing? How many… how many others knew about his pitiful actions so long ago?

Eventually the shock waned enough that his eyes slipped back into a venomous glare. His grip tightened to crush both of her arms, the limbs' cracking lost in a scream as the parasite felt every bone splinter saw through muscle and flesh before puncturing skin. He felt ribs break under the pressure, making the parasite cough up more blood as broken bone stabbed into her lungs, ensuring it felt the full effect of the pain. There would be no ignoring an internal injury. Then he threw her body to the side. As the parasite struggled to think beyond the pain and right itself before smashing into the ground head first, he used sonido to reappear in front of them, his arm out, claws outstretched.

Warm blood oozed onto his arm. He didn't retract it, keeping her impaled body close to his, his arm stabbed up to his bicep into her gut. His jaw clenched as he felt it trying to pull away, more blood running down his arm with every movement. 'It'd heal before she woke,' he repeated to himself mentally when he recognized what he'd done. 'She wouldn't know it'd happened.' The creature, it understood pain and fear alone. This was the only way to make it silent. It had to be done. This was for the best. It was justified.

Her body nearly convulsing against his in absolute agony made all the reasoning in the world sound like a vicious lie. Even if she weren't in control, the one in pain, it was still her body that he'd maimed.

"I-I see. To stab your… lover… you mean business." It rested a hand on his arm, unable to even grip to make an attempt to remove it. It could barely speak above a whisper from the amount of pain it was it. "I… I'll keep quiet... but I'm not... not leaving her. She's mine. Re-remember that." It coughed as it attempted to let out a single laugh. "You're… something… awful to… to injure her like this. She trusts… you… and you… you just keep... using her. I wish… that stupid girl… would see that. Instead she… she…" it trailed off, body falling limp after being subjected to more pain than it had likely felt in centuries.

After her body ceased moving for a few moments, he pulled his arm out, blood spattering on the ground to coat the sand in dark red. Instead of letting her fall like he usually would, he held her to him and used sonido to get away from the awful stain in the sand, then carefully laying her down on the ground so she could rest. Her regeneration still appeared to be working, the fresh wound slowly closing. The internal damage would take a few hours more. Before he began lamenting his actions he stepped away from her, turning around to pace a little further away from her.

He let Segunda Etapa fade away until he reverted back into his original form, sheathing Murciélago at its completion. The release used an exorbitant amount of energy. In all likelihood, the tree was crumbling away as he used its energy to fuel it. Eventually the tree would fade to nothingness if he allowed it. It was as he assumed, then. Aizen had merely dispersed the tree's reishi, which is why it had regrown so quickly. Now, using Segunda Etapa, it depleted the energy, causing it to decay. While unable to see it, he could feel it. The second release had a price, as once the tree completely disappeared, he would be without its ability and power. He would be a regular hollow. Its use would be reserved for battles of importance for now on, with no more trials, he decided. He was confident he could destroy anything without using even his first release anyway.

Once the distraction of analyzing the results of his test had been lost, he glanced over his shoulder to Aracelis. That apparently wasn't enough as he walked to stand beside her once more. He almost kneeled down as well, but caught the action before he ended up holding her to him. The wound had healed outwardly, although she still slept with a look of distress. Even with all of the energy she had stolen from him she could not regenerate organs as fast as flesh and bone. Her unconscious mind was still aware of the pain.

Perhaps… perhaps he had gone too far. No, he had. He abused her trust in him, bringing her out here to experiment with Segunda Etapa and threaten the parasite, both leading him to severely injuring her. It may have been necessary to threaten the parasite, but cutting her up to such a degree, stabbing her through the gut, it had been excessive. He hoped that when she woke up, she would see this, and not excuse it. From her point of view there was no reason for him to do any of this other than the desire to do her harm. His intention to help her didn't matter at all.

Half an hour later she groaned in her sleep, making him snap his attention away from the blood still on his hand to her face. She groggily opened her eyes, blinking rapidly as she tried to overpower her sleepiness. As soon as she saw him standing near her she gave a small smile. It made him clench his jaw. How could she still manage to smile at him after all he had just done?

"We're finished, right?" she asked when she caught his micro expression. He didn't understand how she managed to read him like she did. When he nodded she gave a sigh of relief. "That's good. I wasn't having a lot of fun," she muttered bitterly. "You weren't exactly being nice, jerk."

She tried to push herself off of the ground, her arms shaking, her eyes pinched closed as she grit her teeth. She quickly gave up to fall back into the sand. Her internal injuries still caused her a deal of pain. Without thinking he reached his hand out to offer her help getting to her feet. For a second she stared at him in suspicion before placing her hand in his. In one tug she stood, other arm going to her stomach as she gasped. Her balance was still off, causing her to wobble on unsteady legs. Her grip on his hand showed she had no intention of releasing him, so he brought up his other arm, resting a hand on her left shoulder to keep her from falling back to the sand. Once more her eyes regarded the kindness with doubt for second, the look was quickly replaced by a subtle smile.

"So," she began again after apparently accessing her condition, her eyes having looked over her torn and bloodied clothes. She didn't mention the large stain on the bottom of her shirt. When they returned to Las Noches, she would see that her back had been covered from lying in a pool of blood as her wounds closed. He hoped she noticed, that she would confront him over it. He didn't want her to forgive him. "Did you figure out what you wanted? I wasn't exactly a good training partner considering you're so damn powerful."

"I did." He had accomplished most of what he wished to, although the methods miraculously caused him some guilt. He'd narrowed down the emotion to that at least. There were others he wasn't accustomed to feeling, that he couldn't separate out and name individually…

"What exactly was that, by the way?" She tilted her head to the side. "I mean, did you know that you could do that? Was it something new? More importantly, how the hell did that not qualify you as the First?" Her expression shifted to completely serious as she stared him in the eyes. "It was like I was standing before a god. I've never seen or felt anything as terrifying as that in my entire existence. Your spiritual pressure, not only did it become tangible, it crushed down on me like I was in the depths of an ocean. I don't see how _anything_ could hope to battle against it. Not unless it had an utter disregard for life itself." She seemed adamant in her belief that he had ascended into something beyond a hollow. She was wrong, of course, as gods were figments of the weak that mistook power for divinity. From how things were going, he actually felt like he had devolved with all the worthless human emotions he'd been unfortunately feeling.

He blinked, glancing away from her for a second, recognizing her words as a compliment. She shouldn't be complimenting him when he used it to attack her. "Lord Aizen is unaware of that form, what I call Segunda Etapa, as this is the only time I have used it," he explained again, wondering if she had been too terrified earlier to listen, or if she had forgotten completely. The parasite, it might cause some memory loss when it forcibly took control since it was connected to her brain. "Before, it had been merely a theory." He refused to explain that the tree fueled its power. That she had inadvertently caused him to have this ability… Although, given his distaste of Hueco Mundo, he may have ended up in the tree even if he had never met her. Then again, his dissatisfaction Hueco Mundo had been caused by her as well…

"I guess since Lord Aizen doesn't know, he just placed you as Fourth," she mumbled to herself, pouting, offended that he didn't have a higher rank. Ridiculous woman, as always. "Ulquiorra?" She squeezed his hand gently to ensure she had his attention before continuing. Her tone, it sounded sympathetic. "Did something happen? You seem…" as she searched for the proper word, her eyes drifted to his hand that still rested on her shoulder, keeping her upright. The one still covered in dried blood. Under his clothes, half of his chest and his right arm were smeared with it… He must reek of blood. Instead of cleaning it off earlier he got caught up in shifting his stare between it and her, trying to figure out why he felt so… poorly. "You seem upset about something. Clinging too, almost." She gave a forced half smile, ignoring the blood. "Not that I mind. I… I like the attention. It's just… different." When he didn't respond, she hung her head. "That's okay. You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

When she pulled her hand away, he released his hold without protest, expecting her to step away to distance herself because his lack of response disappointed her. Instead she closed the small gap between them, her arms sneaking around his waist. She pressed her face into his neck to hide. Despite himself, he never took his hand off of her shoulder, a bit shocked that she was doing this. It made no sense, seeking comfort from him after he had injured her. He hurt her, yet…

"I don't understand," he admitted, looking for some insight to her irrational actions. "I have severed your limbs and broken your bones, caused you immense physical pain, and threatened to take your life over as petty of a matter as studying your ability, yet you still seek comfort from me? Your actions, they are far from sane. Do you not see this?"

She gave a single humorless laugh. "Call me a glutton for punishment." After rubbing her face into his neck, pulling herself closer to him in a tighter embrace, she said, "You're the one that seems upset, Ulquiorra. I was trying to comfort _you_. Since you wouldn't say what was on your mind, this was the best I had to offer. Sorry if it's not working…" His only response was to turn his head so his face was in her hair, reluctant to actually return the hug or end it. He had actually come to appreciate them lately… Her answer still made no sense to him. She shouldn't want to comfort him. She should want him to be miserable too, because he kept making her such. Of course, right now, he felt quite miserable in light of the undeserved kindness she offered him. "But I guess I wanted some comfort too," she added quietly. "You… you really scared me… and hurt me. A lot, actually. But… but you had a reason, right? You didn't… you didn't just do this to hurt me. I… I trust that you wouldn't hurt me just because you can."

"Your trust is misplaced," he whispered, defeated.

She trusted him far too much. She would… she would let him beat her within an inch of her life and it wouldn't make her leave him. That… That scared him, honestly. Besides losing her, this was the only other thing he feared. He didn't deserve her undying trust and devotion. Not to the point she would suffer abuse just to keep him there with her. She wouldn't give up on him no matter what he did to her. He… he didn't want to hurt her. He cared. That is what it came down to. He cared about her. Seeing her in pain, he didn't like it, yet he kept causing it by trying to push her away from him when she had no intention of leaving no matter what methods he resorted to. Hurting her, it didn't have any advantage to him at all. Nothing seemed enough to convince her that she would be better off leaving him.

He didn't understand what drove her to this insanity. He could never meet her expectations. He could never change, yet she _still_ wouldn't abandon him. Whatever she felt, there was no way he could return it, as it apparently drove her to do completely reckless things for his approval. With her like this… He knew he needed to stop trying to push her away because it only caused her emotional anguish that she would silently endure for his sake, and then do whatever her emotional attachment to him deemed necessary to please him. Like continuing to have sex with him despite the fact she seemed increasingly depressed when he left her afterwards… Or the way she looked at him when he wouldn't tell her something or pretended not to care. She would even allow him to physically injure her- she had to have noticed, even she wasn't that unobservant. He was truly making her miserable. Her self-sacrificing nature wasn't healthy. Her own happiness and safety should be far more important than pleasing him.

He didn't want to take advantage of her naïve kindness towards him even if it offered him control over her. Sympathy was such an irrational emotion, he decided… That was pathetically what he felt for her, which took far longer to figure out than he cared to admit. There would be no discussing emotions still, as he refused to admit to any until he knew what the hell was wrong with him, but he would stop _deliberately_ being cold towards her, as that likely brought her the most distress. He would attempt to act a bit more… impulsively… with her instead of debating how much affection to withhold to keep her under the impression he didn't care as much as he apparently did. No, no he should just act like normal, as he did before he got himself into this mess because he _impulsively_ wanted to sleep with her, and he certainly should not give her _more_ affection. But, then again, she would take that as him rejecting her and make the current situation possibly worse.

He hated this. He hated being confused to the point of being indecisive. Rationally dealing with the irrational was an impossible task it would seem.

"Ulquiorra," she mumbled, catching his attention, "you're thinking too hard again, aren't you?" When he didn't answer she laughed a few times. "You are." She leaned back, unburying her face from his shoulder to reveal a tiny smile. "Just do whatever you thought of first, before that dang brain of yours decided it was a stupid idea. That's what I do," she grinned, knowing full well that her impulsiveness was what created so many problems for her in the first place. Telling him to the same was poor advice considering the results it gained her.

"And if my first inclination had been to kill you, would you prefer I acted on it?"

"But it wasn't, was it?"

"Your logic is heavily flawed," he said plainly. There was no way to hide that his first thought had been the exact opposite of harming her. No, he wanted to make things worse and give her more affection by allowing himself to do whatever he pleased without a second thought. Like she did.

"I know." She took a half step away, still relying on his hand on her shoulder to keep her vertical. She raised a hand to rest it on his cheek tenderly. "There, you don't look as upset anymore either. Still a bit sad, though…"

"You are ridiculous," he quietly stated, glancing away from her face, unable to handle her cheerfulness at comforting him when he should be offering her such actions while begging for forgiveness for his treatment of her. She was far too nice to him. Too patient as well.

After a silence, he decided it was time to return to Las Noches. They had been gone for four or so hours now. Their absence would be noticed soon if hadn't already. He concluded that he would try to be a bit, a _tiny_ bit, more impulsive. So he didn't say a word as he moved his hand from her shoulder to her wrist, his other hand loosely grabbing her other wrist as well. While she stared him with a raised eyebrow, he moved her arms until she understood to wrap them around his shoulders. Once she had her arms around him, he pulled her closer, one arm around her waist, before he quickly scooped up her legs to properly carry her. Or, well, he attempted to. While he certainly had no problem lifting her, it would always be awkward to carry someone nearly the same height- and she was a bit heavier than him, actually. She squeaked in response, tightening her hold on him, scared she might fall. Then she giggled a few times as he began walking. She would like to speak before he launched into using sonido, he figured. Her voice would be drowned out by the wind if he went too fast.

"Why are you carrying me?" was the first question that left her, a small giggle at the end.

"You are injured." While she wasn't _that_ hurt, using sonido for two hours, if she didn't lag behind and take longer, would be painful. So he would carry her despite it being relatively unnecessary just because he wished to.

"Okay, I guess that's a valid answer." She didn't push that any further. "So, why are you carrying me like _this_ then?"

"It is a shorter distance. I assumed it would be more comfortable for you." Like this, she didn't need to even hold onto him, really. When he had carried her on his back she needed to keep her arms in place or risk falling backwards because he had been adamant about dropping her if she let go. Now she had the option to let him do all the work, although he suspected she would keep her arms over his shoulders and her face nuzzled to neck or chest. She got two hours of hanging off of him. It was the closest she had gotten to cuddling with him since so much contact _without_ sexual intent was still bizarre to him, as the enjoyment he derived from it was a mystery. He was considering making an exception for her, of course, seeing as this seemed to be a form of affection she craved.

"Works for me," she said happily, rubbing her cheek into his shoulder as she laid her head down. "I'm tired, so thank you." He had to fight telling her not to be thankful for such a small, insignificant thing that nowhere neared apologizing for what he did. Not that he intended to actually apologize to her verbally… "Oh," her head shot up, "did you grab my sword?"

He gave a tiny sigh at her just now thinking about where her weapon was. Such irresponsibility. "Yes," he answered flatly. While she had been passed out, he fetched it. Anything to distract himself from preoccupying over her as she slept had been done. "It may as well be mine with how often I carry it," he added as an afterthought, thinking it would amuse her. When she giggled a few times, he felt a bit pleased by it. He enjoyed her laughter…

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she said after a few moments of silence, apparently wanting to chatter, "you're going on a mission soon, right? You said you had four days until something, and it's been almost three, so…"

"After tomorrow, we will be going to the human world to-"

"You're taking me with!?" she near yelled in excitement, interrupting him much to his irritation. She always managed to interrupt him when he planned to explain something to her.

"Yes, I elected to take you with so you can hide our spiritual pressures completely." Not necessary, but not having any soul reapers or hollows interrupting would be preferable. She was his Fracción to command as he pleased, and if that meant bringing her along for a minor convenience and for her enjoyment, then he could. "Lord Aizen has taken interest in the human girl that can reverse time and space." He was to go confirm her ability, and more importantly locate her before taking her as they didn't keep close watch over the humans considering the impractical nature of scouting from two different planes of existence, all while using a diversion created by a few of the rebels that decided they still wished to fight against Aizen. Idiots. The one that had brought their foolish plan to Aizen's attention was Clematis of all things. It didn't speak well of their intelligence. Aizen decided to play a game with the traitors. Ulquiorra would have shared the information with Aracelis now, but considering she held him in such high regard, she would take personal offence at the Aizen's scheme.

"We're going to abduct a human?" He imagined she raised an eyebrow considering her tone. "Was she really that impressive? I thought that other kid, the Kurosaki guy, was the one of interest?"

"Her ability is of secondary interest. The fact they view her as a friend is more important." She would be a means to lure them to Hueco Mundo, to split their forces should they attempt a rescue. Or she would merely be a tool to demotivate them, to make them lose that human sense of hope as their 'friend' had been lost. That they had been unable to protect her. It would affect them emotionally. This is why emotions were such a liability; they were exceedingly easy to manipulate and then used against you…

"O-oh. We're taking her just to upset them, then." When he nodded to confirm that that was the intention behind this order, she mumbled, "Okay, I suppose. I'll do my best to help you. Right now, though, I'm kind of-" A yawn cut her off, filling in the rest of her sentence anyway. "Sleepy. Promise not to drop me while I rest?"

"I had not intended on doing such. You may sleep if you desire, Aracelis."

"Neat." Despite the amount of effort it took, she pulled herself up to press her lips to his cheek, catching him off guard to the point his eyes widened in response. He could not comprehend how she was still able to show him affection, especially so soon after everything that'd just happened. Like she had done nothing, she immediately returned her head to his shoulder, rubbing her face on him again as she settled in for a nap. "I'm done talking. You can use sonido now, if you'd like."

She gasped in surprise when he didn't give any warning as he immediately used sonido with her words. He adjusted his hold just to make sure she remained in place, not jostling her more than necessary. Quickly she relaxed again. She would need to sleep so he _could_ take her with. If she did not heal, he would leave her behind seeing as he did not want to risk her being injured again should some mishap occur. While she could handle a few of the soul reapers as long as they were not captains or particularly strong lieutenants, he would rather not send he into battle when the parasite could very well see it as an opportunity to escape.

In the silence of the permanent night, as he carried her now peacefully sleeping form, he recognized what one other feeling had been: deep concern for her well-being like it was his own. Beyond her safety, he wanted her to be happy. Her distress, it upset him. Her sadness, it affected him. Seeing her hurt… It hurt him as well. This was terrifyingly far worse than sympathy.

It was empathy.

* * *

 **A/N- And there you have it! The last chapter before canon hits (more or less, cause Patros had been a filler, I think? IDK). Anyway, Ulquiorra was certainly going through a lot of emotions during this, which hopefully came across as still in character because he didn't know how to process any of them properly. At least he's seen being cold to her will only hurt her but not make her leave. Hopefully the whole Segunda Etapa being connected with the tree makes sense; he is the only one with a second release, and the tree is one thing that really set him apart other than his coloring in that little glimpse into his past. And that removing Mirro is a task- I could explain it better outside of Ulquiorra's pov, and would answer any questions if it doesn't make a bunch sense here. They're both really screwed up individuals that are not particularly dealing with this well, in any case. This was a long chapter, and I probably could ramble more, but two weeks of classes** _ **already**_ **got me tired o_o This took so long to edit because of school, so the two week updates are definitely back.**

 **Thank you to everyone reading!**

 **Thank you to fujiwarakurosaki, .Sohma, anionymm, sgleey, , and NameWithNoMeaning for following and/or favoriting!**

 **S.A- Forget Aizen? Oh, loyal soldier Ulquiorra would never- although, ultimately, he can't leave no matter what anyways, so might as well be on Aizen's good side. At least he's trying to get rid of Mirro, and is realizing he cares for Aracelis** _ **a lot**_ **. Thank you for reviewing, I'm glad you enjoyed the story and hope you continue to!**

 **GreyMoonHuntress- If you happen to keep reading, thank you for the review! I'm always excited to hear thoughts and know that I've elicited some emotions. Ulquiorra is a dick, but he's figuring it out. Their love will come… eventually. Such stubborn hollows.**

 **haipa-chan- Oh, Ulquiorra most certainly was threatening Mirro to be quiet last chapter because he promised** _ **no**_ **interruptions and he meant it. He would not stand for it making Aracelis hesitate like last time. And he had been nice, not slicing off limbs last chapter, just aiming for the arm. This one? Nope. He meant business. He does not like Mirro one bit, and the feeling is mutual on Mirro's part. Mirro also knows he's going to die if he doesn't figure something out. I had been aiming for 'not too much, not too little' with the sex, so I'm happy to hear I hit that mark well enough. Glad that you're excited to have more after she finds him again in Karakura! Can't just have her go and get a gigai without** _ **some**_ **shenanigans going down. I'm not a particularly nice author. Thank you for reviewing again!**

 **thestormwriter- Ah, ha, yeah, I'd just been really happy because your comment helped bridge these two chapters really well and gave me the idea for an actual conversation between Mirro and Ulquiorra (which I didn't really have planned out too well…). And yep, toning it down the sexual stuff; just needed to get both points of view before going off on a different tangent. The don't got time for such frivolities now anyway.**


	29. Chapter 29- Onset

"Idiot! Bastard! Complete fool!" Aracelis stomped her foot on the ground before returning to pacing back and forth with fists balled at her side. "How the hell does that Patros have the gall to even begin to think he could defeat you!? You smeared the ground with the lot of them! He didn't even fight back because he so damn scared of you!" Ulquiorra ignored her theatrics as she continued to seethe at Aizen's plan. Using his little sword trick to make them think they killed Ulquiorra… Oh, she was mad. At Aizen for the production he was making out of this, and at the three hollows that decided they could go against Aizen like there were no consequences while believing they could defeat Ulquiorra so easily. "And to think that they would be escaping with the Hogyoku? They are the absolute most foolish group of hollows to ever walk Hueco Mundo!" Like Aizen would let them escape with his precious baby jewel. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised at how utterly pitiful they are seeing as how _Clematis_ was the one that told Aizen of their betrayal," she growled. Apparently the weed was well enough to go about snitching on others. Actually, she wouldn't be surprised if the weed had behind this all somehow. Aracelis was just waiting for some misfortune to befell her from the weed's scheming. "I swear, they are-"

"Aracelis." She whipped her head in Ulquiorra's direction at him putting an end to her ranting. He had quietly been watching her from the other side of the room, sitting in his chair as he waited for her to stop throwing her tantrum. He only told her this right before they left, probably because he expected her to do this. Wanted to keep her complaining to a minimum, of course.

"Seriously, they have to be brai-"

"Come here."

She rolled her eyes at him, but figured he was done listening to her whine while he was trying to sense when Patros and company actually left. While he could easily manage, her complaining was just an irritating, unnecessary distraction. She walked over to him anyway. The second she was within reach he managed to snatch her wrist and pull her onto him. Not that she put up a fight as she giggled. No, she made herself comfortable on his lap right away, snuggling up to him with her head resting on his shoulder. After a few seconds his hand found her shoulder, albeit he still seemed hesitant in the way his fingertips barely brushed against her skin. He also seemed particularly tense for someone that initiated the action. That being said, he was more relaxed with physical contact than he had been before at least. He wasn't a stiff board now. She felt herself smile at his attempt nonetheless. He was trying so hard the last day to show her affection…

"Quiet," he ordered, although not very decisively. He just wanted the ranting to end. She could probably keep talking if she wanted to as long as she changed topics.

"Okay," she sighed, deciding to just enjoy the quiet. "I'll behave." That had been part of her orders from him anyway, it a stipulation to gaining some sort of reward from him. He didn't tell her much beyond that. They were investigating the area where they had initially made contact with this Orihime girl –she had to ask, or he would keep referring to her as human or girl or woman-, all while Patros and his lackeys got themselves killed by soul reapers. Which they would because they grossly overestimated their own strength and intelligence. Stupid Adjuchas turned Arrancar. They weren't ready for the responsibility of having a brain.

She had one job: hide their presence so there weren't any distractions. She could easily manage as long as she kept herself focused. Ulquiorra would analyze the area and track down this Orihime. Then they would go fetch her. A simple task considering an Espada and a Fracción could handle a human with what Ulquiorra described as lacking offensive capabilities. Hell, he said if she knew the girl's spiritual energy -and if she was not a walking disaster of a hollow-, he'd be tempted to let her go fetch the human without him. Definitely showed how thrilled he was to be going to the human world.

He quickly fell back into a dutiful silence as he waited for the traitors to open a garganta. She left it to him, not particularly set on sensing when they left and then deciding how much time they needed to be enthralled in their battles; not when Ulquiorra would just tell her. He would carry her into a garganta if he had to. They had a while, and she intended on taking advantage of her current situation. She shifted in her spot a bit so she could get her face into the crook of his neck. He didn't react, his hand still on her shoulder even as she moved to get comfortable.

He'd been acting different since coming back to Las Noches. Nicer. Definitely more affectionate than before. Quieter, almost… He didn't talk much to begin with, but it seemed like he had a lot on his mind recently.

Whatever had happened while she had been passed out, he had been deeply upset by it… The only clues she had gathered were that she woke up covered in a decent amount of blood, the back of her shirt soaked through, and her stomach hurt like she had been sliced open with some internal damage. Considering how he reeked of her blood, and the fact he had dark stains from his hand up his arm, she figured he must have stabbed her at some point while in Segunda Etapa. She hadn't figured out exactly why, but recently suspected that 'instinct' had been involved in one way or another. The voice had been oddly silent since then. And said Ulquiorra wanted to 'chat' with it immediately before she passed out. She was beginning to get the impression it held more control over her than acting as a nagging, insufferable bastard.

The only thing that stopped her from screaming at Ulquiorra for stabbing her –when she still believed he had done all of it for no reason- had been his behavior. He clung to her, actually holding her hand back instead of keeping his hand limp while she held it. He was quieter too, voice softer than usual while saying as little as possible to answer her questions. The look he had, that was what had made her worried- and not scared worried, but she felt genuine concern at his expression. His eyes had been wide, frowning with what looked like concern and definitely confusion and maybe even fear, as he avoided much eye contact. There had been a lot of emotions flickering in his eyes to the point she guessed he'd been startled by it, that he had no idea how to process them all. She hadn't seen him look so miserable since when he followed her around as a Vasto Lorde, either. Him looking so sad, she didn't like it, and wanted to help somehow. When she hugged him, he never took his hand off of her shoulder, and even pressed his face into her hair. That had been the closest he ever came to returning an embrace before that. He allowed it to go on for a long time as he silently thought too. She really got the impression he had wanted comfort, even if he didn't know it himself. She had no idea what made him look so upset, but didn't press for answers. Not when he appeared to be having an emotional overload.

He seemingly took her advice to act more impulsively, though. Before, he kept getting caught up in every single action and what reactions it would cause, to the point he either didn't act on what he initially wanted to do, the moment would pass, or he would do something else he decided sounded more 'rational.' Apparently rational meant withholding affection. The moment he stopped that… Her smile returned as she rubbed her face into his neck again.

Not only had he carried her back to Las Noches, he essentially tucked her into bed when they returned. Instead of flopping her on her bed and walking out, he had kept holding her long enough to pull back her blanket before setting her down and tossing the blanket over her. And now, now he had initiated something all on his own, pulling her into his lap just to sit with her when that certainly hadn't been necessary to stop her chattering. These weren't even the best things.

After she had been passed out for a few hours, her body healing the internal damage fully, she had gotten up to check on him. He hadn't moved from his room in a long time, and she wanted to go see if he wanted to talk or if he had muddled through whatever crisis he was having. She didn't want him to isolate himself while dealing with something he clearly had difficulty understanding. And she was lonely. So she had gone to his room to find him lying in bed while fixedly staring at the ceiling. He didn't even react as she sat on the edge of the bed, ignoring her completely. She had been at a loss at what to say, any babbling she did not getting his attention, so she gave him a brief kiss that he didn't return. As soon as she moved away, thinking that she made things worse again, he sighed, pulling her back down to properly kiss her. And, well, they ended up doing a bit more than kissing eventually… When they'd finished, she had reluctantly accepted the fact he would be telling her to leave, so she had sat up to go gather her clothes. He caught her before she stood. She just expected he had been in an oddly frisky mood, but instead he just stiffly and awkwardly draped his arm across her waist after pulling her closer, allowing for her to cuddle up to him.

He'd been silent for a few minutes as she smiled like an idiot while lacing her fingers together with his to hold his hand -and he gently squeezed back, elating her more. In true Ulquiorra fashion the next words out of his mouth were, "I don't see what you gain from this." She didn't have time to formulate a proper way to explain why it made her happy before he rather quietly added, "If you are displeased by my actions, demand I act differently instead of pretending you are fine. This habit of submitting yourself to my selfish desires is not what I wish of you." Once again she hadn't had a response, and only could nod her head because he _understood_ he'd been hurting her feelings. He recognized that she had been growing upset with him acting coldly, particularly in leaving her after sex, and, despite it being some sort of deliberate measure to distance himself, he stopped because he saw she had no intention of fighting back no matter how distraught she became. She hadn't thought that he would be so… accommodating to her idiotic human behaviors.

Whatever had happened, he had realized something. She was hesitant to believe he loved her, as that would just serve to destroy her when she learned otherwise, but he… He really cared about her at least. Perhaps he even developed some sympathy for her. He cared how she felt even if he thought feelings were ridiculous. He cared enough to stop even if it meant going back on his own decisions. That meant a lot considering he could be quite stubborn when accepting his views had been wrong. This was already more than she expected, really. Especially so 'soon' considering how long it took him to accept changes, particularly in mindset.

She felt herself sliding off of his lap as he slowly stood, giving her plenty of time to get to her feet without falling onto the floor in an irritated pile. After stepping off the to the side so he could walk in front of her, he wordlessly opened a garganta with a snap before glancing over his shoulder expectantly.

She followed him in, offhandedly commenting, "I've never seen you open a garganta." The snap, she thought it was cute. She just ripped at the air, but he had to be 'classier' and more refined than clawing at nothing. He didn't say anything back, just continued walking forward on a very even pathway of his creation. She was close enough behind him she didn't even have to work at not falling into the dark oblivion between Hueco Mundo and the Land of the Living. It's not like they were in a rush either. Ulquiorra told her that they would take their time to allow Patros and the other two to engage enemies so all were adequately distracted.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she began after a few moments of walking, bored at the silence, a smile on her face at her conversation idea. "I finally got you to go to the human world with me," she said triumphantly like she had won some sort of battle of stubbornness in getting him in the human world with her in tow.

" I asked you to accompany me," he responded, not glancing over his shoulder when she laughed a few times at him pointing out a technicality when it had been her merely teasing him. Although, with him, he probably meant his words to be sarcastic- his tone certainly failed at conveying that notion. She was happy to get a conversation going at least.

"Yeah, _clearly_ this was an Ulquiorra approved outing. I don't imagine there will be much fun to be had when we have a task to accomplish." Because there wouldn't be. This was a serious mission directly from their _renowned_ leader. Ever dutiful Ulquiorra would treat it as such, and so would she. She wouldn't want to get Ulquiorra in trouble by being an idiot with authority issues and a lacking attention span. "You'll keep me from those distracting little humans and their insignificant, mundane lives," she added as an afterthought. "If we were going for fun, would you human watch with me?" That had been her goal in the past, really. Just get him to come with and watch the weird creatures interact in such bizarre ways, hope that maybe he would think it was strange too. She was fascinated with them… She had wanted to share her interest with him.

"Perhaps," he answered after a moment of apparent consideration. "You find a great deal of interest in observing such petty creatures go about their fragile lives; I have yet to understand why."

"Another time, then?" If there was one… She had no idea when such an opportunity would arise considering Aizen intended to start his war now. Taking the girl would apparently incite some sort of reaction from the Soul Society judging what Ulquiorra had told her.

Her sudden shift in tone and the following silence was enough that he glanced at her for a second. He said nothing before he looked away again. He knew that there wouldn't be time for a frivolous outing just to play 'watch the still living mill about for no reason.' He wasn't about to lie and say there was, either. As it stood, the future may as well be nonexistent. Making plans for it…

"I find it interesting, considering your ability, that you could so easily traverse the garganta," he stated instead, changing the topic so she didn't dwell on the last one, knowing she would.

"Well," she muttered, taking the distraction he offered her, "I mean, I'm not going to lie, most of the time, if I'm walking in here, I subconsciously make a pathway." Otherwise she could see why he would find this interesting, seeing as she lacked control over her ability. If she just drew in energy it would be impossible to cross through the garganta without plummeting. "It… It just took more effort when I had been injured." Now that had been scary. Walking a crumbling path while near death hadn't been a good time. That had been one of the few times she had been consciously aware of how much concentration it could take to make a pathway. Then again, flaring her spiritual pressure took a conscious effort most of the time too. Any other time she absorbed energy like she was starved. "When I'd been lower ranked I just flew, because, you know, wings." She tilted her head to the side even if he couldn't see her do it. "Do you miss flying around? I mean, without having to use your resurrección?" He still had that much at least. At this point, she could barely remember the feeling of flight since it'd been centuries.

"They had been convenient," he replied with as much as enthusiasm as usual. "I would not say I _miss_ them as you do yours. In fact, outside of battle, I believe they would prove quite cumbersome. This form is better suited to our status considering fighting and travel no longer play such a substantial part of our existence."

"So you like your Arrancar form? I wasn't really sure how you felt about it, honestly." While she would have continued, she knew saying that having a more human like body was better suited for their current life, which had moved away from purely the life and death struggle of a hollow's, would piss him off. He didn't like being compared to humans. He already had to deal with the emotions, further comparing their lifestyles and bodies would needlessly upset him even if it was true. "But I see what you mean. Still, though..." She still wished she as least had a choice in accessing her former abilities whenever she wanted.

"If I ever figure out how to use my resurrección," she started hopefully, "do you think we could go flying together?" She had always wanted to… Well, she had wanted to fight him in an aerial battle, but the appeal of just flying around with him would be just as fun. And this wish, if she didn't continue to fail at using her resurrección under her own terms, would be much easier to fulfil.

He stopped without warning and she almost crashed into him, although she theatrically flailed when she almost tripped. Ulquiorra blinked once, making her pout because it wasn't her fault he almost made her fall. "When you learn how," he responded, earning a smile from her. Her reaction caused him to quickly turn away again, covering the action by opening an exit point because they had apparently made it to Karakura. In front of her she had a prime view of an open green field surrounded by trees. How the area brought back memories of her stay in the human world…

"Remember your orders," he said firmly once more.

"Yeah, I'll be good," she sighed, shaking her head at him checking if she remembered what she should be doing like he had told her five centuries ago opposed to maybe an hour ago. "I promise, Ulquiorra."

After a curt, yet somehow still very subtle, nod, he stepped out of the garganta, Aracelis following behind. She was immediately slapped in the face by the lack of reishi in the air, the smell of grass and trees, and the glaring orb setting in the sky. She forgot how annoying sunlight was, as the dome in Las Noches wasn't nearly as bright as the actual sun. The next two things she noticed made her snort as she held back laughter. Ulquiorra's white skin in the sunlight glowed like a beacon saying 'supernatural creature allergic to daylight hours.' When he glanced over his shoulder at her poorly hidden giggling fit she quickly turned her attention the other thing she found amusing- although nothing could beat Ulquiorra's snowy skin turning an orange hue in the setting sun.

"Yammy made a damn mess when you guys came." She pointed to the crater in the ground a little distance away from them. "Like seriously, he must have caused an earthquake! All of the humans must have just swarmed to you guys to see what the hell happened! Every soul reaper too." She hadn't known why he would take that bumbling idiot with him, but upon seeing this disaster zone, she understood completely. "You must have _really_ not wanted to stay long if you used him to round up all your targets by making such a mess."

"You find odd things to be humorous," had been his only response before walking off.

She stayed in place, like she had been told. He wanted to analyze the traces of the girl's spiritual pressure- if she got too close to it, any of the teeny traces could be gone in a second. So she got to stand around, just focusing on hiding their spiritual pressure from any irritations that might come to investigate. It's not like she could track down Orihime herself considering she had no idea what her spiritual pressure felt like. She looked for others instead. Patros and his buddies were already engaging different soul reapers in a flagrant display, power flared to their full extent. They'd be dead soon enough judging who they were fighting. Actually, without a doubt the trio would fall, the soul reapers having defeated all of Grimmjow's Fracción- and she held them with more regard than three hollows barely worthy of being called Números. She didn't sense the Ichigo kid, interestingly. He didn't seem to be around, or he was hiding somewhere. That Ru-something the kid had been with had disappeared too.

"I wonder if that soul reaper died, then." Grimmjow might have attacked her considering she had taken out broken mask and been with who cat was targeting. Ulquiorra said nothing about the boy getting killed, but nothing of the fates of the others either. "I don't sense her anywhere…" Certainly wasn't around anymore, though.

"You speak of the one with black hair and a small statue," Ulquiorra unexpectedly chimed in. He stood with his hands in his pockets, not too far away from her yet, like he had suddenly come to a stop while she hadn't been paying attention to him. With the slightly more pronounced frown on his face, she expected he had some bad news for her.

"Yeah, Ru-something or another. She had been with Ichigo, and had killed broken mask before Grimmjow went after them," she offered, not knowing what exactly he wanted to know. "Is she important somehow?"

"Rukia Kuchiki is one of the humans' _friends_ ," he explained, incredibly dubious of the word friend, while searching the area again. "She had been injured by Grimmjow, but survived. Her absence may explain where the girl is."

She stared at him blankly for a few seconds, processing. "What… What do you mean 'where the girl is?' She's not here?" Her brow twitched as her voice rose with each word, frustrated already.

"She is not."

"Seriously?" Aracelis huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why don't I ever get to do anything fun? It's sort of weird, but I was looking forward to abducting her because, you know, I actually got _to do something._ " After a very exasperated sigh turned growl, she controlled her anger. "What are we doing now, Ulquiorra?" Sort of a major change in plans when the target disappeared somewhere Ulquiorra or she couldn't readily sense… "Where do think she is anyway?"

"It is likely she went to the Soul Society with the soul reaper woman, though I know not why. We will be forced to change our approach considering this development. For now, stay where you are. I will finish analyzing the traces of spiritual energy before we return to Las Noches to devise a plan to fetch the girl with minimal disturbance."

"Don't want to cause too much chaos yet," she muttered after nodding her head to agree with Ulquiorra's orders. Attacking the Soul Society itself wouldn't be the smartest thing to do. He probably already had an idea forming of what to do, though, but he would also probably want to get permission from the great soul reaper prick, least Aizen be offended by his taking of initiative. Aizen wouldn't want his pawns thinking for themselves; Grimmjow had his arm sliced off for it, and Patros had been used as an expendable distraction instead of killing him when his plan had first surfaced. She hated Aizen… After seething in silence for a time, she huffed, turning her attention back to Ulquiorra out of curiosity. He had crouched down, his palm over an area of ground as he analyzed any remaining traces of energy from the girl's ability. She kept quiet, seeing how focused he was on his job, not wanting to needlessly interrupt his thoughts.

She went back to actively sensing the battles going on for a while, the sun beginning to slip away. The three hollows had all gone into their resurreccións now, Patros the final one, all knowing they lacked the ability to hold off the soul reapers without their sword releases for any amount of time. That was the extent of their intelligence, obviously. She couldn't get over the fact that they thought they got away with the Hogyoku. It's not like they knew how to use it either. Why they even decided to take on the soul reapers instead of running with the precious gem remained to be seen, too. She hadn't asked Ulquiorra earlier because she had gotten caught up in berating the foolish hollows instead.

As she considered asking she sensed a few spiritual pressures that had been nearby coming towards them, albeit still at a rather leisurely pace. One she recognized as the tall, darker skinned human she had seen the last time she was there. The others were a mystery. They more than likely didn't sense Ulquiorra and her, unfortunately choosing this path to take, but if they got much closer they would _see_ them standing there. She doubted they would be cool with two more Arrancar standing around.

"Ulquiorra, there are some heading this direction," she reported since he could identify them and their threat level far better than she could.

He stood up, glancing in their direction with a completely blank expression. "Kisuke Urahara. Return to Las Noches." Just as she pouted he added, "You would be injured if you attempted to fight them. Urahara was formerly a captain, and the creator of the Hogyoku."

"Oh, um, okay." She glanced back in this Urahara's direction even if she couldn't see the man that inadvertently added to her problems by making the damn Hogyoku. What a strange place, this Karakura. How many soul reapers and ex-soul reapers and gifted humans did the area have? Certainly an abnormal place indeed. "I'll go, I guess. You staying?" When he gave a slight nod, she tilted her head to the side, wondering why he would. He seemed to be done with his analysis. Staying would just ensure he was seen and that didn't really seem to have much of a purpose beyond... "Are... Are you staying to taunt them?" she asked in wide eyed wonderment.

"Perhaps."

She burst out laughing, only able to tame her giggling by covering her mouth for a few moments. He just wanted to tease them, let them see he had been there the entire time, show them that hadn't sensed one of the Espada at their doorstep. It was something she would do. She had, in the past, actually. "Antagonizing them like this, maybe I influenced you more than I thought, Ulquiorra." He had always questioned her enjoyment in mocking soul reapers, but here he was, her little understudy. "Have fun, I'll see you later." She waved at him once before turning around to rip open a garganta. For him, he had asked rather nicely, saying he didn't want her to stay and get hurt instead of saying she would be in the way. So she wouldn't complain. "Just don't go get that human girl without me," she called over her shoulder before letting the garganta close. A slight nod was his answer before he returned his attention to the arriving soul reaper.

It wouldn't be long until he came back as well, she assumed. Then he would probably go chat with Aizen. While she waited, she would just relax in his bed like she had been.

* * *

The door creaking open and the sound of light footsteps interrupted the silence, the formerly dark room flooding with light from the hall briefly before the door closed again. Clematis lazily looked to Licidae, waiting for the small child hollow to speak even if she already guessed what she wanted to share.

"Patros left a time ago," she said flatly before her eyes narrowed at Clematis's lack of response to the news. By now, Patros would be searching for someone who knew how to use the Hogyoku- she _may_ have let it slip that the creator of the stone was in the town. Patros, he _really_ shouldn't have asked her to join them, assuming that she had similar desires as Ellzea. "You are in one of your moods. Do not think I am here to cheer you up. Go find Dordoni if you want a shoulder to cry on."

"Oh, you're so mean, Licidae," Clematis whined, slumping further into her couch she had claimed. Her pouting proved ineffective against the unimpressed child still glaring at her. "Dordoni would cheer me up with his silly antics, though. You and Rudbornn are always so depressing to be around, with your nasty glares and bad attitudes. Dordoni had been so nice," she sighed dramatically, as if he was dead and not a few buildings away. "He was a good human too. Just an unfortunate soul corrupted by contact with another hollow," she said, flinging her arms up, sleeves billowing with the action. "You were a cute little kid too! Oh, how you-"

"Shut up," Licidae snapped in irritation, not wishing to hear this spiel again. The kid never did care about the fact Clematis could kill her if she wanted. That's what made her such a good, interesting subordinate. Geero, he was obnoxious with how he had no personality beyond serving Ellzea. Even rude Rudbornn was better than Geero. "I do not wish to listen to you babble on about our supposed human pasts _again_. Get to your point or I am leaving."

"What? Why are you being so mean to me!?" Clematis cried in fake offence, pretending to wipe a tear away, before falling into a fit of giggles. She abruptly cut her merriment off to mutter, "Why should I be the only poisoned by the past?"

Licidae ignored the comment in favor of continuing her topic. "You had a reason in stopping Ellzea from joining Patros in his plot. One the stubborn moth took interest in. What is you have planned?"

"I just told you!" Clematis childishly stuck her tongue out, earning no reaction from Licidae once more. So serious, like always. No fun at all to tease. "Yes, yes. A plan. I don't have one yet, really. I just… I just really despise Ulquiorra and Mirro so much that all I want is for them to suffer! Especially Ulquiorra." She pouted as she moved around her freshly regrown vines. Aracelis certainly hadn't helped by sending that bala into her, but she was just confused. Poor, poor, Aracelis was just unfortunately caught up in a stubborn, idiotic ownership match between two pathetic men that did not deserve her attention at all. Absolutely horrible. She hated them both. She disliked that Aracelis ended up being collateral damage as she tried to make the other two to suffer for their misdeeds, but there was no way around it. Aracelis would be getting hurt. "I have to do something soon, or odds are Ulquiorra will get her killed anyway," she mumbled to herself. He already knew about Mirro thanks to her. If he tried to remove the parasite himself, Aracelis would be dead too because Ulquiorra most certainly had no idea how interconnected the two had become with how long Mirro had been with dear Aracelis. But telling Ulquiorra how to remove Mirro? She wouldn't want to do that either, not after he had threatened her in such a brutish way, choking her. So violent! And, well, if he did kill Aracelis, he would cause himself more grief than anything Clematis could do.

Aracelis truly had poor taste. Disappointingly, her last plan seemed to have backfired and made the two of them closer… From the few servants she bothered- as in forcibly searched their memories- Aracelis and Ulquiorra were constantly with each other since then. She thought she could make Aracelis jealous and that that would anger Ulquiorra because it was such a trivial, illogical thing for Aracelis to believe, but apparently they were able to see past her scheme. Oh well. If he learned to be nice to her, then she _supposed_ it would be okay. He had a poor track record of keeping women alive no matter how much he cared for them, though…

"You are very strange, seeking retribution against things far more powerful than you for their past deeds they don't even remember. Were you like this as a human? A blind idiot trying to protect those who did not ask for your _help_ in the slightest, not knowing the situation you were meddling in?"

"So, _so_ critical, little Licidae!" Clematis laughed for a time when Licidae rolled her eyes again, apparently expecting her to see reason. Clematis didn't like _reason_. Not when the world operated in complete and utter chaos. "But, yes," she answered with a wide grin, "I have always been the vengeful sort, although I would call it justice! Justice for those afraid of taking action against those who have wronged them even if they don't see it!"

Licidae scoffed, muttering, "You are a raving lunatic," her face contorting to repulsion as she turned to leave the strange plant to her scheming. "When you have a coherent plan, tell me. I am bored of standing idle."

"I'll think of something really fun for us to do!" Clematis chirped excitedly, her mood improved now that she had something to do besides wallow in memories. Her memories, anyway. She couldn't wait to share them.

Ulquiorra's were quite entertaining after all.

* * *

Ulquiorra walked through silent halls on the way back from meeting with Aizen. It was a simple matter, reporting that the girl appeared to be in the Soul Society, and that he would go fetch her. Aizen ordered him to lure the girl back and to intercept her whilst she traveled between the Soul Society and the Land of the Living, it less conspicuous than an Arrancar appearing in the Soul Society, causing havoc through their presence alone. It would solidify their goal of causing them to doubt if she were a prisoner, but instead a traitor, as well. Using some of the other Arrancar as a distraction would be more productive as well, seeing as how testing a new Arrancar and Luppi -Grimmjow's equally irritating replacement- would provide more insight to their actual capabilities.

Aracelis, her duties would remain much the same with the exception of him being there to watch her. He doubted he needed to be. Her performance today had been fine, complying to orders without complaint. She only managed to annoy him twice. The first, although expected, had been her anger towards Patros, and subsequently Aizen's method of deceiving the traitors. She took far more offence than necessary, somehow the fact that Patros believing he could win in a fight against him proving to be inconceivable to her, while also angering her as though her own fighting ability were in question. Silly girl, worried about his reputation to such a degree. He could understand her irritation towards the hollows' foolish and reckless actions, but his status? Ridiculous. Even her anger towards Aizen made more sense than her strange sense of concern. How three insignificant hollows perceived him didn't matter at all.

The second thing… It bothered him in another manner. When she asked if he would join her in one of her bizarre human watching outings, he recognized that the odds of such a thing happening were zero. One or both of them could die in this war. Most likely her, even if the mere idea of her dying served to bother him, but there was a chance it would be him alone. Aizen, he meant for the hollows to expendable; a means to an end. A fool could see that they were being used. He was no exception, although he had formerly accepted that he would be forfeiting his life to further Aizen's goals. She forced him to consider the fact they had no foreseeable future together, though. And, for the first time, the fact he might die bothered him. When he had been pulled from the tree, he honestly hadn't cared if he lived or died. He went with Aizen just to see if this war could provide him with a purpose, temporary or otherwise. If it hadn't, he would be killed in it anyway. He hadn't cared what happened to him, really. There had been no meaning to anything, the world empty of reason, his life insignificant and his actions irrelevant in the end. But now… He wasn't sure. Once more Aracelis made him indecisive. Once more, he was no longer be indifferent towards everything. His own life, he didn't really think he could be brought to being concerned for it. It was already odd enough that he felt concerned for Aracelis's.

This strange _partnership_ – as he could no longer deny being involved with her in such a manner- they had… It was certainly detrimental. Regretting joining Aizen, the war, it would only prove to complicate matters further. She had forced him into this to begin with, he attempted to reason. She had caused the events that led him to this point. No matter how many times he tried to blame her entirely for all of this, he couldn't. Not anymore. She had not left him by choice, nor had she lost their battle because of her own fault. The parasite became the more logical target to place the blame. Or himself.

He opened the door to his room, ignoring that nagging line of thoughts again. He didn't have time to deal with that irrational mess. He didn't want to deal with it. Not when the last time he had attempted to solve such an issue he ended up in the tree, wanting silence above all else.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," Aracelis greeted cheerfully, fully pulling him away from his tangent. She had settled into his bed again. With how often she had been in it as of late, it began to smell of her, not that he minded much. He'd actually began keeping a change of clothes in his wardrobe for her as well. At this point, she practically lived in his room. As he closed the door behind him, she sat up, pillow still held to her chest while she waited for his full attention. "What's the plan now?" she asked eagerly as soon as their eyes met. He found it oddly amusing -the other word he would use disturbingly being 'adorable'- that the one time she chose to be focused on a mission, she childishly hugged a pillow to her, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"We will create a diversion to draw the girl out of the Soul Society, where I will intercept her between worlds. You will arrive in Karakura with, as of now, Luppi and the newest Arrancar, before waiting for the girl." Entering with them, she would go unnoticed, and then use her ability to remain hidden for the extended time she would be there. Earlier, Urahara had seem somewhat surprised to see him. Aracelis's ability had presumably masked their presence from one of the biggest threats. Without a doubt she could follow after the girl without incident. "You will remain to monitor the girl as she has her reprieve, as we have already discussed." The human would have no opportunity to go against his orders. Should the woman decide to inform her friends of her situation, Aracelis would be able to quickly bring her back to Las Noches.

"Got it," Aracelis said, nodding her head a few times. With the 'business' out of the way, she automatically shifted back to a more playful tone. "So, Ulquiorra, what was that reward you'd mentioned? I think I was a model subordinate today, so I definitely deserve it."

"As you have not completed the mission, I will withhold from awarding you it." At his words, she pouted as she shifted her gaze to the side, refraining from adding complaints as she glared. "However," he began, making her jerk her head to look back at him hopefully, "I could offer you my attention for the next few hours instead."

"I _do_ like attention." She leaned forward. "Can I have a hint, though? I mean, I'm really curious now what this reward is."

As she waited expectantly for a response, he considered her request. While it was tangible, calling it a _gift_ would likely give her the wrong impression. He was still questioning if he should really give it to her. It would hopefully aide her in reaching her resurrección, or at least assist him in seeing what changes the parasite had brought on in the form. She would inevitably demand to see more, though... "A gift."

Before he could explain he would use the term loosely, she hummed, "A gift, huh? I'm really excited to see what Ulquiorra Cifer would hand out as a gift." She smiled when he gave no reaction to her teasing. He had no idea why she found his lack of response to her teasing so amusing again and again. "So," she started again, drawing the word out, "about that attention." After flopping onto her back and scooting off of the side of the bed, she patted the newly made spot next to her. He stared at her, unsure of what she wanted with him. He was far more willing to do one activity over the alternative…

"Please?" she whined when he remained in place. "Just lay down for a bit. You don't even need to touch me, okay? And, if you want, I'll keep my hands to myself too. I just want you nearby."

He hesitated for a moment more. Of course she would want affection… He was still unsure how he felt about openly showing her affection, although she did appear to be happier now. That was an improvement, as he much preferred her expression now compared to before. She had been… elated… by him cuddling with her after intercourse. And earlier, even if he had done so to quiet her.

Despite all logic deeming he deny her, he went to the side of the bed, carefully laying down beside her. After flashing him a bright smile, she reached for his hand. He allowed her to take it, not fighting when she placed his hand on her waist before she moved closer to him, only a few inches apart. She rested her hand on the side of his face, her skin warm. Silence fell as she did nothing more than gently stroke his cheek with her thumb, starting into his eyes contently.

The disturbing thing about this, the reason he felt reluctant to return her affection… It was because he enjoyed it far more than he should. He felt… strange… with her in his arms. He could tell now that… that it wasn't only sexual pleasure he gained from her being close. He felt warmth in his chest. Contentment, perhaps. A feeling he remembered from the past, that he felt even when he could feel nothing else, but intensified. Seeing her smile at him, it made the warmth worse, although it wasn't painful at all. He couldn't explain it or name it. If anything, it went with the apparent development of _empathy_ he had for her. He _wanted_ to hate it, yet…

"Ulquiorra," she said softly after a while. "Can I ask you something?" When he stayed quiet, she added, "You can ask me anything you want, too, if you want." Bargaining. Whatever it was, she really wanted an answer. He tipped his head slightly in acceptance, having a question for her as well. "I… I know you don't want to say where you were, and I understand that, I just..." She paused, breaking eye contact. "Did… Did you miss me?" she whispered.

More than he would ever be willing to admit. She had no idea how much control, how much influence, she had had over him. That she still had. Her presence had been profound. Her absence, far more so. "Yes," he reluctantly admitted, if only to get an honest answer from her as well.

She almost seemed to flinch at his reply, her body tensing. When her eyes met his gaze again, they shone with what could quickly become tears. "I'm sorry, Ulquiorra. I never intended to leave you. I didn't mean to make you sad, and I'm really, really sorry. Just… just know that, okay?" He only stared at her, which caused her to begin rambling. "I missed you too, and I am so sorry that you had to feel like that as well. I didn't want that to happen. I'd… I'd sort of hoped that you hated me so much that you'd be happy to be rid of me, because… being lonely is…" she trailed off, either unable to continue or unsure of how.

He couldn't find words to respond with. Even if it was completely irrational, he had hated that she had come to Las Noches, acting as if she had never been gone. Yet, even if it wasn't her fault, her apology… He appreciated it. He didn't deserve it though. This kindness she offered him without knowing the rather poor opinion he had of her before her return, and after deliberately injuring her barely a day ago, he didn't deserve it at all. He recognized that much.

After another long silence, her continuing to gently stroke his cheek, he asked, "When I could no longer communicate with you, why did allow me to stay?" He didn't understand. She always said her purpose had been talking with him. When he could no longer provide that, why did she stay? He could never find a reason for her actions. She should have left him as soon as his purpose had been lost. Something without a purpose in an empty world, in may as well not exist with how pointless it was.

"Because you're my friend, Ulquiorra. I wouldn't just abandon you, especially for something outside of your control. And you still tried to communicate with me. You even learned how to lip read just so you could understand what I was saying still. You listened, even when you obviously didn't need to. That means a lot to me."

"I..." Friendship. That was her answer to this? A ridiculous human concept rooted in having a heart? They were hollows. There was no such thing as friendship. Caring, that was absurd enough, but altruistic behavior and bonds between two hollows? Certainly not. He did _not_ have a heart. It was carved out of his damn chest. His brain, it was capable of seeing beyond the frivolities of such things as _emotions_ and _feelings_ , making them secondary to reason, and falsehoods that humans would find comfort and hope in at the time of their inevitable deaths. He couldn't suddenly develop a heart. Aracelis, she had always been strange, but he was a hollowand he would always be a damn hollow. Acting like humans, it made them just as weak. "I don't understand," he stated firmly.

Her expression faltered before she faked a laugh. "I don't know what else to tell you, Ulquiorra. That's the best I can explain." She gave another obviously forced smile. "If… if it's okay, can we just lay together for a while?" Her voice was tentative, eyes avoiding his once more as she feared him rejecting her request at her words.

He'd upset her… He could see that much. "If that is your wish." If it were just for little bit, he would allow it. It would make her happier, again. Like earlier. He didn't want to ruin her mood when earlier she had seemed more herself. Especially because she spoke what she actually thought instead of pretending her camaraderie had been something less than her offering him her friendship in such a fragrantly human way. The least he could do was reward her honesty with what she craved.

"Thank you," she muttered, lifting her hand off of his face to slip her arm under his before pulling herself to him. With her hand on his back, she pressed his face into his chest. On a whim, he took his hand off of her waist to move it to her back, bringing her closer. She nuzzled her face into him in response.

He had no idea what he was doing anymore. He'd lost control of the situation entirely, yet, he didn't feel as bothered as he should, which irritated him more.

He did truly enjoy being beside her, though. He always had, underneath the denial. He realized that now.

* * *

 **Getting into the action of canon and Clematis has returned! Yet still some 'downtime' really, with the two getting to do something together- although they both sort of realized they might not have a future together with the war no matter what changes happen in their relationship – and** _ **someone**_ **is** _ **finally**_ **coming around to the idea. Gotta go fetch Orihime for real now.**

 **Thank you to Liquidation, Volkom, Stickstrike, xXThatRandomKidxX, ilovepopcornjessica, and IrisTohruSohma for following and/or favoriting this or last chapter!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **haipa-chan- Canon is here! And of course Aracelis gets to have some fun and help out a bit- she would complain if she was told to sit in her room. Glad to hear you enjoyed that Ulquiorra finally getting the chance to chat with Mirro, even if he sort of came to regret his methods. As for Aracelis' ability to regenerate, it's her** _ **one**_ **skill other than speed. That, and Mirro can help out some since he is integrated with her body, so two hollows rather than one. He also had a role in deciding what skills she should improve on, and, as he wanted her to stay alive, he advised speed and regeneration over** _ **everything**_ **else. And, well, I don't think it was ever clear the extent hollows could heal, with or without regeneration. Like, could they heal damage if part of the organ still existed? I mean, clearly Ulquiorra had his lower body destroyed fighting Ichigo, so those were gone, but Aracelis had just been stabbed, organs damaged but there. Well, before I ramble about hollow abilities because I find them interesting, I think that canon will go at a fast pace considering I plan on covering a lot of events in a relatively short number of days- maybe just a few extra days of Orihime being there without rescue, but not very long like some other stories. I think, right now, 11 chapters planned, but could be a few more or less depending on what happens when I actually type them out. Idk. Thank you for all the love! Glad you're liking this so much!**

 **thestormwriter123- There it is! The thing I overlooked while typing last chapter! I mean, Ulquiorra would know that Aizen would know about segunda etapa even without actually seeing it, and I forgot to take that into account so, yeah… Dang know-it-all Aizen strikes again. Well, I'm not sure it will cause much of an issue in the grand scheme, really, other than an overlooked detail. I'm glad you liked the concept though! I was trying to fill in blanks -as I remembered them, so accuracy is debatable- of why Ulquiorra could have an ability outside the rest of the Espada and Arrancar.**

 **Guest- I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And Ulquiorra, of course, because my goal is to expand his character. Thank for reviewing!**


	30. Chapter 30- Similarities

Disappointingly, it was time to leave. Even with that fact, Ulquiorra found it proved deceptively difficult to pull away from her and end the kiss. The need for air certainly lent assistance to him. As Aracelis's lips left his, he took a step back, her understanding to loosen her hold on him and allow her arms to slip off of his shoulders. That did not keep her from momentary pouting, however.

"Time to go?" she asked, tilting her head to the side as she waited for a response.

His answer was him immediately setting to work combing through her hair to get it back into place. As soon her hair had some semblance of order, he went to righting her clothes as well. He had managed to pull her shirt down at some point, not entirely sure when beyond as he fondled her breasts. Her pants were in the same state, lower on her hips than usual. This had to be fixed, of course. It's not like he had intended on doing what Aracelis had referred to as 'making out.' No, he had wished to offer a single, short kiss before they left for the meeting early. It had been an experiment in returning some of the affectionate displays she offered him to gauge his own reaction to the feeling that accompanied it, but he also figured such actions would please her. He still found himself trying to atone for his actions, pathetically. Hurting her had become abhorrent to him somehow.

Aracelis had had other ideas. She spurred this, not that he had done much to stop her from pressing her body against his, planting her lips on his in needy manner. No, he had been rather compliant to her will, and got caught up in the physical pleasures of running his hands over her body while they fervently kissed because she made his priorities horribly skewed. However, given the chance, he would have continued had they not had other commitments.

As soon as he dropped his arms to his side, she stepped forward. Much the same as him, she began to gently brush his hair to return each strand near exactly where he preferred them. She must have spent a great deal of time staring at him to remember such insignificant details, being as observant as she was. Then she began zipping his shirt back up, his chest having been previously exposed so she could run her hands over his skin. She had become quite proficient at disrobing him when it suited her. While her fumbling in her excitement had been amusing, he didn't mind her newly acquired skill either. When she got the bottom of his throat, she paused, waiting for him to decide if he wanted the zipper all the way up or not- she had noticed he wore it both ways depending on his whim. When he tilted his head up slightly she zipped it fully. After fussing a bit more to smooth out the wrinkles- which he would have done himself had she not- and making sure the coattails were hanging down correctly, she took half a step back, leaving a hand to lightly rest on his chest.

"Do you remember your-"

"I swear," she immediately whined, cutting him off, "if you say 'remember your orders' one more time today, I'm going to lose my damn mind." She rolled her eyes when he didn't respond, as he could not argue. He had said it a few times and ways while explaining the revised plan. "Ulquiorra, are you worried about me screwing up Aizen's plan or me being injured?"

He kept quiet. Admittedly, with the change in plans, it became riskier to send her. He could not deny the _concern_ he felt for her safety. Without him accompanying her, should the parasite decide it an opportune time to try to escape Aracelis, most likely through killing her, he would not be nearby. He had thought of some countermeasures, of course. If something went wrong, he told her to either find a source of spiritual pressure to distort or to flare her own, and then he could easily locate her and use a negación to bring her back. Among other strategies. If the parasite had planned on something, having the list of ways he could prevent Aracelis from mortal injury hopefully intimidated it into inaction. In any case, he alone could get the human girl should the need arise. He had had ample time to think this all over as she had fallen asleep while cuddling with him. When she woke up, she subsequently got a list of additional orders that she rather obediently listened to.

"I'll get it done, okay?" she sighed, exhausted by what could nearly be described as nagging. "I guess I'm happy you'd feel concerned about me, because that means you care, but I can follow humans around. Trust me. I won't screw up this scheme, and I won't _try_ to get hurt. I'm not an idiot."

"You are not." He didn't doubt she was capable, although it likely seemed as such to her. The parasite was the issue.

She smiled at his almost affirmation. "Well, I suppose, with that out of the way, it's time to go. Right?" After the slight nod he gave her, she leaned forward to give him a peck on the lips. "Then let's go," she said excitedly, eyes sparkling. "I get to do something useful for once _and_ I get to play watch the human."

With that, she let her hand slip off of his chest before walking to the door, even if she only had a general idea of where she was going. He would allow her the lead until she realized this for herself.

The amiable silence was short lived, interrupted by one loud, obnoxious yell of "Ulquiorra!" followed by thunderous footsteps. Aracelis had tensed at Yammy suddenly shouting, sending a glare over her shoulder at the oaf as he caught up with them. He had sensed Yammy nearby, of course, he just hoped the fool would find someone else to bother. Yammy was tiring, simply put.

"I want to go on this mission of yours," Yammy announced, smashing a fist into his other open palm. "I'll beat the snot out of the soul reapers this time!"

"That is acceptable," Ulquiorra said after brief consideration. Aracelis caught on to the fact he would be using Yammy as a diversion again. She wasn't fast enough to stifle her snickering. And, with her poorly hidden amusement, Yammy looked down at her like he was just then noticing her walking well within arm's reach of Ulquiorra.

"Hey, Ulquiorra?" Yammy pointed a large finger at Aracelis's head, a bushy eyebrow raised. She fell silent, eyes flickering to Ulquiorra, not entirely sure how she should react considering Yammy sounded perplexed by her presence rather than offended by her snickering. "Your Fracción's still alive?" The brute burst out laughing, the sound grating to the eardrums with how close he trailed behind them. The echoing stone halls did not help matters. "You did see something you liked! Like I said!" He cackled away like he was a genius for noticing what had been an obvious break in character- Ulquiorra's gaping at her when she had arrived had been more than enough to see such. Rescuing Aracelis from Grimmjow had been another sign he preferred her alive; others must have sensed that debacle. The fact he allowed her to walk directly at his side rather than tell her to follow behind him was another sign he had a preference for her company. That he treated her more like an equal than a subordinate.

Neither he, nor Aracelis, responded to Yammy's remark. In fact, besides the subtle glance they exchanged with each other, they stared forward with a mirrored look of disinterest. Ulquiorra didn't see the point in actively denying it anymore. Half of the Espada already noticed that he had taken a particular liking to Aracelis as she was, in fact, still alive, and he afforded her more privileges than even the other Espada got from him. They had no idea the extent of their relationship, of course; he doubted they would guess he had her pinned to a wall about ten minutes ago with his hands all over her. Not seriously, anyway. Yet the fact remained that the 'secret' of their companionship had become near common knowledge through their own actions. Aracelis had managed to anger such a number of Espada on her own that he already needed to protect her from being targeted for her own deeds. He would just add protecting her for her association with him to his list of things to do concerning her wellbeing. May as well let them draw conclusions of what he would do should she come to harm because of her perceived importance to him.

"You even make the same faces!" Yammy added, still finding humor in the situation.

If they were not so close to their destination, Ulquiorra may have told him to be quiet and risked the ensuing complaints or laughter. A few halls later, well after Yammy ceased his merriment to complain about the soul reapers again, they arrived at a large closed door, behind it the rest of the Espada already waiting. Aizen had arrived before them as well. He really had been distracted for so much time to have gone by unnoticed… In a matter of moments, the Hogyoku would be used to finish the process of creating an Arrancar.

Aracelis gave a single wave as she stepped off to the side to lean against the wall. She said she wasn't interested in attending even before he informed her she wasn't technically invited as she was not an Espada- it was surprising Grimmjow had been allowed entry. She mentioned something about not wanting to be in a room of people she disliked. He left her to wait, walking into the room with Yammy in tow.

The meeting was brief. Aizen used the Hogyoku to finish the process of transforming the hollow into a fully fledged Arrancar by the name of Wonderweiss Margela. The Arrancar's mental state appeared that of a child's due to Aizen's modifications. He had been created specifically to counter the soul reaper's Head Captain, and, as such, held the power equal to an Espada's. Wonderweiss trailed behind him, taking apparent interest in Yammy's hair judging from the irritated yelling from the Tenth. Luppi, for once, kept quiet as he regarded the scene with a sneer of distaste. He did not feel like the leader of a group of elite fighters right now, but rather a glorified babysitter.

Once they entered the hall, Aracelis stared at the trio with a raised eyebrow before glancing back at him to mouth, "I seriously have to go with these idiots?" She pouted when he didn't say anything. Her reaction to the addition of…

"Great, you brought your bitch along," Grimmjow groaned as soon as he caught sight of Aracelis. She narrowed her eyes at the sound of his complaining. If Aizen hadn't allowed him to come along, Ulquiorra would have preferred to keep the cat as far away from Aracelis as possible given both had hot tempers. Aracelis could at least control hers. Grimmjow tended to theatrically destroy everything.

"You got a problem, cat?" Aracelis stepped forward despite it being the last thing she needed to be doing. Not that Ulquiorra really made an effort to dissuade her from her fun yet. He enjoyed her cold tone paired with her icy eyes glaring at Grimmjow like he was complete trash. He found her domineering side rather… attractive. He wished she would stand up to him like she did everyone else. "Go crawl back into your hole if you can't handle acting civil while in my presence for _one_ mission."

"Who the hell do think you are? Ordering me around?" Grimmjow closed the distance between him and Aracelis to stand a foot from her, snarling as he went. "I'll beat your ass into the ground like last time! And Ulquiorra isn't gonna stop me from killing you this time either!"

"Oh, are you really, _former_ Espada?" When Grimmjow's teeth ground together, Aracelis lost any indifference her expression held in favor for a smirk. With Ulquiorra so nearby, she apparently forgot all sense of caution, ready to torment Grimmjow as much as she could while she had the chance. "And I do believe I outrank you, cat." She shook her head following an empty laugh. "I suppose cat isn't such a fitting title now. How about kitten?" Her grin made the little restraint Grimmjow had snap.

"Shut the hell up!" Grimmjow's fist flew through the air, knuckles a distance from her cheek as she moved out of the way with time to spare. For a second, Grimmjow appeared surprised by her speed even after having fought with her before. Likely it stemmed from the fact she had a better understanding of how to utilize her abilities; she had siphoned a fair amount of spiritual pressure since they returned to Las Noches whereas before she had been drained from her resurrección. Obvious attacks wouldn't work. And, if it looked as though Grimmjow would land a blow, Ulquiorra would step in. He was still quite irrationally irritated at how bruised Aracelis's face had been the last time the cat had attempted to murder her.

"Jeez, _kitten_ , that all you can do nowadays?" Her condescending tone and Grimmjow shaking in rage, Ulquiorra found it highly amusing. Too bad there were other things to be done then watch his vindictive woman mock Grimmjow into utter frustration. The need to end this became absolutely necessary when Grimmjow raised his arm, about to charge a cero to take out Aracelis and half the building if allowed.

Ulquiorra walked between to the two, staring at Grimmjow, silently daring him to find out what happens if he fired a cero at an Espada, let alone Aracelis. Grimmjow huffed, jamming his hand in his pocket while hissing out 'whatever.' The cat stalked away until he stood a distance from Aracelis and Ulquiorra, scowl barely holding as his mouth fought to keep from shouting further insults out before continuing to pick fights with anything that moved. Any more of it, and the cat would not be going to get his revenge on the Kurosaki kid. Once more, Ulquiorra felt more like a babysitter of miscreants than a high ranking member of a regime planning to destroy the Soul Society.

"It's time to leave," was all he said to mobilize the team of distractions.

* * *

"Hey, bitch," Grimmjow said after a while of walking silently through the garganta on the way to the human world. Aracelis didn't respond given that wasn't her name. She just kept quiet, walking on the other side of Yammy after deciding having a giant wall between her and cranky cat suited her needs well enough. Good thing Luppi took the lead and essentially ignored them, eager to get the fighting- as if he joined in, Aracelis would be saying screw Ulquiorra's plan, go back to Hueco Mundo for a bit, and then go by herself to complete her part of the mission. She only had to go with them to ensure she stayed hidden, no trace of her having entered the human world what-so-ever. Pure precaution. She didn't need these idiots. The blond kid, Wonder… Wonderweiss Yammy had called him, kept relatively quiet, babbling to himself as he trailed behind them in apparent awe at everything. Before now, he had been chasing after Yammy's ponytail, which had been hilarious enough that it distracted Grimmjow and Aracelis from each other.

"You really fucking him?"

Aracelis nearly tripped, flailing her arms to balance herself. That was _not_ what she had been expecting Grimmjow to bring up. Especially sounding as curious as he did instead of seething with anger like every other time she'd heard him address her.

"Wh-what the hell are you talking about?" she snapped, mentally screaming at her stumbling over her words. Upon her embarrassed stutter, she heard Grimmjow let out a half chuckle. "And no! I am not!" she quickly denied. Doubted he'd believe her. She hoped Ulquiorra wouldn't be mad about failing so miserably to keep it a secret… Even if Grimmjow had guessed on his own. Seemed like the whole damn Espada already thought so anyway.

"Man, I thought Nnoitra had been lying!" Aracelis's face contorted at the mention of the Fifth. Of course he would be on speaking terms with Grimmjow; they'd be _best_ buddies seeing as both were idiots that liked to pick fights for no damn reason. Probably tried to kill each other when they got bored. Just _had_ to tell Grimmjow what, at the time, had been a lie spun by Clematis though. She didn't want to know what sort of perverted stuff the Fifth theorized they'd been doing with each other. " _Damn_ , he has garbage taste in women. I guess when he calls something trash he means he wants to bang it!"

"Shut up, kitten!" Her new nickname for him made him snarl. Unfortunately, it made Yammy boom with laughter, which remained jarring with how loud the giant was. She was used to being around Ulquiorra… He certainly wasn't loud, nor did he laugh- although she wouldn't mind hearing what it sounded like, if he even knew how…

"I _knew_ you were his woman! Saving your pathetic ass back then! You have him whipped!" Grimmjow nearly shouted to be heard over Yammy. "It'll make it that much better when I punch your face apart before I kill the bastard for interrupting my fights!"

"Will you three shut it!?" Luppi screamed as he spun around, fed up with their chattering. "I'm sick of listening to you two weaklings bitch at each other!" He pointed at both Grimmjow and Aracelis to make it obvious just who had annoyed him. "So I order you to shut up!"

Just as Grimmjow began to say 'who are you to be ordering me around,' and as Aracelis opened her mouth to snap at the new Sixth, both remembered that Luppi, by some cosmic mistake, outranked them both. And that he was the one technically in charge at the moment because he was the highest rank with them. That fact pissed both Grimmjow and Aracelis off, making them both glare at their 'superior' in distain.

"That's what I thought!" Luppi boasted. "A former Espada and some wh-"

A noise distracted Aracelis from the 'important' speech Luppi decided to give in the name of his ego. It'd been an abruptly cut off babble. Without even putting much thought into it, she reacted, using sonido. She barely caught Wonderweiss's shirt collar before he fell off of the pathway into the darkness below. No idea why he walked off the edge, but he… He really didn't seem to have a lot going on in the brain department. Under the assumption that Aizen needed the weird hollow for something, she would not be the one getting in trouble for letting the kid jump into oblivion for no reason. Right now, among the group of _children_ she was with, she had to be the reasonable one. The Ulquiorra experience, she wanted to call it. She swung him back onto the path before he decided to squirm about more, barely registering the fact Luppi began yelling about her for ignoring him or something. Wonderweiss continued to babble incoherently, unfazed, as he stood back up.

"Watch the kid so he doesn't kill himself." She wouldn't be in the battle, and Grimmjow would be fighting Ichigo, blind to everything else, if she had a guess. And, even if it pained her to admit, she wouldn't be ordering Luppi to do it least he get even more riled up at her 'disobedience.' Yammy, somehow, became her best option to deem babysitter of the brainless Arrancar they'd been forced to bring along under the guise of training, so she looked to the brute specifically.

"You trying to order me around again?" Grimmjow immediately complained, not giving Yammy the proper amount of time to process that she had aimed the request at him.

Just as she opened her mouth the tell off the cat _again_ , she breathed a sigh of relief. "Go get destroyed by that soul reaper again," she growled at him just as the garganta tore open fully to reveal blue sky on the other side. Conversation was thankfully dropped with the beginning of the mission. The hollows finally had something better to aim their pent up aggression at than her. Stupid Adjuchas turned Arrancar…

All attention reverted to the field in front of them. Judging by the few 'tactical' words -as in they insulted each other between giddy comments about being able to fight- Yammy, Grimmjow, and Luppi shared, there was a gathering of soul reapers conveniently located below them. Grimmjow quickly ran off to find his target since Ichigo was apparently missing again. As the remaining three left the garganta as the tear closed, Aracelis used sonido to get out of the immediate area as fast as she could. She went unnoticed considering Yammy and Luppi weren't the only ones eager for a battle, flaring their spiritual pressures threateningly; the soul reapers jumped at the chance to fight.

Now, she got to go wait in a park nearby the crater they'd been investigating. She'd sit around in the trees, hidden by her ability, until Ulquiorra delivered Orihime to her.

At least it would be quiet now.

* * *

Ulquiorra found himself disappointed when the only protection Orihime had ended up being two soul reapers unable to even sense him before he addressed them- as he had been irritated enough that he verbalized it. Traveling, it was dangerous. They should have had more precautions then sending two pathetic fools to accomplish what captains would find challenge in. The only advantage was that the soul reapers had stabilized the Dangai, allowing him the convenience of being there as long as necessary. Rushing matters, he disliked doing that.

The girl, she appeared to recognize him after staring a few moments, her frozen behind the two men as they reached for their weapons. He stepped out of the garganta, commentating a bit more as he analyzed the situation for all it was worth. The soul reaper to the girl's left drew his sword before shouting obvious questions like 'Who are you? Are you an Arrancar?" Tiresome and unnecessary in every way. Ulquiorra took a hand out of his pocket to remove the trash.

"Wait!" Orihime shouted, trying to prevent the inevitable death of the men trying to protect her. "You have something to tell me, don't you?"

He used a bala to avoid hitting her, even if that sort of attack wasn't one he preferred. Aracelis was likely more proficient with it, honestly. Ceros caused a wider range of damage, which he favored above the quickness of bala. The soul reaper fell to the ground with his left arm blown off, torso slashed open, blood pooling around him. The girl watched in shock. A typical human reaction.

"That is right, woman. I have something to tell you."

She ignored him, using her ability to try to save the dying soul reaper. She kneeled down beside the injured man, begging the other to run away. Ulquiorra repeated what he had done to the first soul reaper if only to gain her full attention. To his mild surprise, she used her ability on both mortally injured men at once.

"You can even heal injuries that deep?" He commented as he watched the wounds beginning to close, albeit at a slowed rate, her ability fighting against the spiritual energy left by his bala. It had gained his interest. If she could manage to reverse such damage, there was a possibility her ability could heal more than just a severed limb and flesh wounds with enough time. The potential for fixing organ damage may exist. Perhaps brain damage as well. He could have use for her if that was the case…

"That is quite the power," he said offhandedly, walking towards the woman. She turned around, facing him with more defiance than he had assumed her capable of. She hadn't learned she couldn't hope to fight Arrancar since the last time, when Yammy had smacked her for attempting to protect Kurosaki. Her attachment to others would inevitably get her killed. "Come with me, woman." He cut her off as she opened her mouth, ordering her, "Don't talk. Say only 'yes.' If you say anything besides that, people will die. I don't mean you," he paused his words and steps, able to use the technology Szayelaporro had been forced to lend him to show images of her friends engaged in battles back in the Land of the Living. "I mean your friends. Don't ask anything. Don't tell me anything. You don't have any privileges. The only thing you have is the rope to the guillotine in which your friends have placed their heads. Understand this, woman. This is not a negotiation. This is an order."

Orihime stared back at him wordlessly, fearfully, exactly as he wished. Threatening her friends, who she cared about more than her own life, would ensure she cooperated. The human trait of trying to protect someone even when the person in question was weaker than the one they were attempting to defend… Aracelis acted the same. She would likely do the same thing in the position the human woman found herself in as well… Before he decided to analyze just how disturbingly human Aracelis acted, he continued with the matter at hand.

"Lord Aizen wants your power. I've been ordered to bring you back unharmed." He waited for a sign she comprehended his words. A hesitant nod was all he needed. "I'll tell you once more: Come with me, woman."

Her feet remained frozen to the ground, hand clenched at her chest as she put all effort into nodding stiffly. She flinched when he walked forward once more. As he took his hand from his pocket, she drew in a shaky breath, eyes widened in fear even after having told her he was to bring her back unharmed. Once he stood just close enough, he held out the silver bracelet that would serve to hide her presence when she returned to the Land of the Living. Another of the gadgets the Eighth had created, although it could only mask weaker spiritual pressures effectively, making it rather useless aside from its application in this case. It took an almost annoying amount of time for her to understand to hold out her hands so he could drop it into them. He took a few steps back before speaking again.

"I am giving you this. While you are wearing it, it will place a spiritual membrane around you that will prevent anyone but Arrancar from detecting you." Aracelis would watch over her, making sure the girl did not try to manipulate objects around her to give warning to her friends of her situation. "At the same time, you'll be able to pass through objects at will," he added plainly, this not particularly an important detail to him, merely a convenience to her. She obediently kept quiet, not asking anything as she stared at the bracelet. "Wear it and don't take it off."

"Yes," she muttered, eyes downcast, the earlier defiance replaced with sadness.

"I will give you a twelve-hour reprieve." His offer shocked her, making her attention shift to him as he began to walk away, opening a garganta to leave. "During that time, I'll allow you to say goodbye to one person. But, if that person realizes what you're doing, I will consider it a violation of my order. Your time limit is midnight. Settle everything by then, and go to the park nearest where we first met." He walked into the garganta, adding one last time, "Don't forget. You can say goodbye to only _one_ person." The 'or else' was heavily implied. He left her to heal the soul reapers if she so desired, confident she would not try to escape back to the Soul Society and that her having time to help them would further show she had come willingly. Should she go against his orders in any way, however, there would be consequences. At least she seemed to recognize there was nothing she or her friends could do to save her from this fate.

* * *

Aracelis hopped out of her chosen tree branch when a garganta opened nearby. Ulquiorra walked out a second later, expression as blank as ever, hands shoved into his pockets. He glanced at her, patiently waiting until she stood in front of him. She noticed he didn't have even a hair out of place, meaning there had been either no resistance or a pitiful one when he threatened the girl. She would have asked if he had not ordered, "What is the situation?" Seemed like whatever happened, he hadn't been impressed.

"Luppi's either dead or incapacitated," she began, that happening a short time after she sensed the Urahara guy arrive to help the group of soul reapers deal with the Sixth, Yammy, and Wonderweiss. "Yammy's having problems fighting Urahara; got hit with something a few moments ago." Some energy attack was the best she could describe it as. It followed Yammy blitzing the soul reaper with a round of bala. "Grimmjow's fighting someone other than Ichigo." It'd happened after the kid couldn't fight anymore and the arrival of the Rukia girl. Whoever showed up to help them, she hadn't really sensed them until they began fighting. Whatever they were, it felt like they'd used a cero, which made Aracelis question if she had made some sort of mistake. Humans and soul reapers, they couldn't use ceros. Not that Ichigo's spiritual pressure hadn't shifted to something other than a soul reaper's earlier. Because it did. All of it was very strange. She would have considered investigating herself if she hadn't had strict orders to stay in place once she arrived.

Ulquiorra took in the information, a slight nod his response to her. "The woman should arrive soon enough. She should be complacent."

"Got it. I'll watch to make absolutely sure." Before much else could be said, a sudden increase in spiritual pressure cut the conversation short. "Stupid cat," she muttered. Ulquiorra blinked slowly, essentially agreeing that Grimmjow was being a problem child again, grating on even his nerves. "See you later," she said in defeat. Ulquiorra glanced at her before using sonido to go stop Grimmjow before he used his resurrección. The mission was over, no need to give away what the cat was capable of… Soul reapers could analysis stuff like that, and that certainly would cause some problems.

It took Ulquiorra about two seconds of sonido to reach Grimmjow and stop him. Quickly enough, the sky split open in several tears, negación retrieving all the Arrancar except her. In a matter of moments, she was back to being the only Arrancar in the human world.

A little miffed she didn't have time to ask Ulquiorra _anything_ , she went back to her tree, jumping to the branch she had claimed. She sat with her arms crossed, glaring at a leaf like she could make it either run or combust. Time to wait for Orihime to get there so she actually had something interesting to do.

When she sensed a spiritual pressure walk out of something similar to a garganta, she excitedly used sonido to go see just what this girl looked like. Ulquiorra's description had been quite lacking; orange hair. That's it. A woman with orange hair had been his all he chose to describe her as. As soon as she tracked Orihime down, though, she _really_ found his description to be hilariously bad. Seriously. The girl was younger, probably the same age group as Ichigo. Exact age ranges still baffled Aracelis, but Orihime was certainly a teenager. Definition of gorgeous though. Like, how Ulquiorra could manage to overlook that the girl was quite pretty with her long hair, grey eyes, delicate features, and nice figure continued to astound Aracelis. She really had no idea how he managed to conclude he found her in specific attractive when he became blind to it in others. After a moment of gawking she brushed aside her initial impressions to do her job.

Aracelis quickly found herself incredibly confused. The first thing Orihime did when she arrived in the human world made a vague amount of sense. She went straight to her house. She said a prayer while in front of a framed photo, and then sat down at a table with a notebook and pen. Now, at first, Aracelis thought this was all fairly normal. It wasn't until after the girl left her quaint home did she have a chance to investigate the note Orihime wrote, expecting it say something along the lines of 'Hey, so, I've been abducted by the enemy. Help?' But nope. Household instructions, like when to take out the trash. Not a single mention of what had happened to her. No hints other than she would be gone. Aracelis couldn't decide if the girl had been _that_ afraid of Ulquiorra's threats or just hadn't thought to do it. Like, she didn't _know_ she was being followed and that Aracelis would destroy any notes begging for help. She should have at least _tried_. Had she just given up all hope so easily?

Then the girl walked around for a while, apparently deep in thought. As the sun began slipping away she ended up at a school of all places. Classes had already let out from what Aracelis could tell, most students leaving or gone. Orihime went to an empty classroom and ended up staring sadly at a desk. The girl really freaked out when a loud brown-haired boy ran into the room, followed by a quieter boy with black hair. The energetic boy had enough spiritual ability that he could probably see Aracelis, so she had to be careful to dodge their gaze as she looked through the windows. Someone looking on might have found her darting around hilarious, she was sure. Orihime had hidden under a desk for a bit before she remembered that they couldn't see her no matter what. Something the boys were talking about made her get a look of shock that was quickly replaced by sorrow.

After that, Orihime pensively sat under a tree in front of the school. Aracelis took a seat on the edge of a roof as she watched the girl. It wasn't until the sun threatened disappearing completely that Orihime ran off. Another girl with a small spiritual pressure and short hair, clothes looking like she was part of a martial arts class, caught Orihime's attention. Had a stray soccer ball not distracted Orihime, Aracelis felt like the girl would have been the one person Orihime said goodbye to. Aracelis didn't understand how, thinking that maybe Orihime had been waiting for the other girl, an event that couldn't even affect her could make her change her mind. Oddly the short-haired girl looked right at where Orihime had been, like she sensed her even if it was wholly impossible. She might hate Szayelaporro, but his fancy knickknacks did appear to work well enough. With the opportunity missed, Orihime returned to wandering aimlessly until dark.

She ended up staring at what appeared to be Ichigo's home. Aracelis felt like she'd walked into a damn mine field of potential problems. Ichigo, while he seemed to be exhausted from the beating Grimmjow had given him earlier, would be one issue if he woke up. Two other presumably humans had a bit of spiritual pressure, one of them probably able to see her to a degree and raise the alarm. Then Rukia was there too. Aracelis would rather not have an actual soul reaper see her, even if sharing the information would be a bit difficult. According to Ulquiorra, they had a way to temporarily cut off any communication between the Soul Society and the soul reapers in Karakura, but that was only a minor comfort. If she got in a fight, everyone else in the area would be sensing it, and come to investigate. One soul reaper she could handle, but like ten? Even she wasn't stupid enough to think she could manage that alone, without her resurrección. With it was still up to debate, though.

Aracelis felt sort of sorry for the girl. This was only the beginning of this mess for her. Being abducted, then given a reprieve to say goodbye to someone. A start of a long list of emotional ups and downs that manipulating her would cause. She wasn't a hollow with a disregard for everything but themselves. She cared about her friends to the point she would willingly sacrifice herself to protect them. Aracelis reasoned that the girl listened to Ulquiorra's threats of leaving hints of what happened only to keep her friends safe. A weakness ripe for abuse, really. She honestly hoped the girl cooperated. It'd make her life, and probably her death, easier than if she resisted until the very end.

Eventually Rukia left- during which Aracelis peeked over the roof to watch as the soul reaper ran off. Very strange seeing soul reapers in casual human-wear, she noted. Not long after, Orihime awkwardly climbed up to a window, using the bracelet to pass through the glass into the room Ichigo was in. Aracelis had an incredibly hard time seeing through the sliver of a gap in the curtains. She could just barely hear Orihime quietly talking to the sleeping boy.

"Well, Ichigo…" Orihime had begun. "I came to say goodbye."

Aracelis listened in, confused as to why the girl would choose to say goodbye to someone who was passed out when she could have said it to someone, you know, who could have responded back, and maybe drop _some_ hints that something was wrong. Yet no. She chose Ichigo. Then she sounded embarrassed as she muttered about never having been in his room before she fell silent. Thankfully she brushed against the damn curtain, giving Aracelis at least a small gap to see what was going on.

She saw more than she bargained on. Orihime had her hand resting on Ichigo's as she slowly, hesitantly, leaned down to kiss him. It… It made a bit more sense why… Why Orihime chose him even if he was asleep. She liked him.

"It's no good," Orihime's shaking voice whispered. "I can't do it." Aracelis could hear the girl begin crying, then. She kept listening to the girl mumble through her tears as she wiped her face and straightened her back a bit. "I'm doing this even though it's the end."

Orihime leaned back onto the curtain, the small gap Aracelis had to see from narrowing again. Not that she cared. She'd didn't need to watch the girl crying. The girl recognized that this would be the death of her, but even then she would still go to Hueco Mundo if only to protect her friends and… And the one she loved. Aracelis found watching objectively harder than usual. Especially as the girl finished listing off all the lives she had wanted to live and said that she would fall for him each time. Something about it struck her, and not in an anger inducing way by a sympathetic way. Maybe even empathetic considering Aracelis automatically thought of how she felt about Ulquiorra, and how difficult it would be to say goodbye if something like this could possibly come to pass. If it meant saving him from death, though, she would.

' _See, you're as dumb as this human girl. Sniveling over others like this… Saying you'd die for them… Pathetic, disgusting emotions that'll get you killed and nothing else.'_

'Look who it is," happened to be the only thought she offered instinct, surprised it chose to commentate at all. It'd been silent since Ulquiorra'd taken her on that little outing. Must have found her reaction to Orihime so appalling it just _needed_ to share. It only growled before returning to ignoring her like it had been, thankfully. She enjoyed it shutting up for once.

They were similar in that way, though, she supposed. Empathy, terrible thing to feel for a prisoner-to-be. The damn love and friendship talk got to her like she was a hopeless romantic of a human and not a ruthless hollow… If anything, she wanted to speak with the girl now. Because, in some screwed up way, the person she assisted in abducting would end up being the only one in Hueco Mundo perhaps able to explain the human emotions she had been feeling with accuracy- not stumbling to conclusions like her or on shutting down entirely like _someone_. She'd be getting her chance to talk with an actual human, although in a way she didn't quite expect.

Aracelis went back to the roof to stare at the moon blankly while the girl healed Ichigo's wounds in the short time she had until midnight.

At the appointed hour, Orihime began her solemn walk to their chosen meeting point. Once Aracelis deemed that the girl would be doing as told and keep going towards her destination, she sprinted ahead, sensing that Ulquiorra was already waiting. He looked at her with she could only call curiosity or concern. Maybe he picked up on her slightly depressed mood without her even speaking. That meant she made her mood way too obvious.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she said, smiling, hoping he wouldn't demand an answer for why she was a bit down. How stupid she'd look if she told him she felt sort of bad for taking the human… "Just a little tired, is all. Nothing important. Not used to being in the human world for so long anymore, I guess. Not to mention Mr. Kitten wouldn't shut up the whole way here." Her joking didn't seem to convince him of anything. "Orihime's walking over to meet you, so… I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yes, after I report to Lord Aizen," he confirmed. As she walked by him he caught her wrist. Not a crushing grip, just enough to stop her from wandering off. "You did well, Aracelis."

"Thanks, Ulquiorra." _Such_ an Ulquiorra way to offer assurance, paying a compliment since he knew she enjoyed them, while avoiding asking what was wrong because that would be an obvious sign of concern. All said in a flat, emotionless voice, of course, but genuine enough considering he said it aloud. "I actually get my reward this time?" she asked, finding it a tiny bit easier to act cheerful. With the slight nod he gave, she gave an actual grin, pushing back the little pang of regret the human managed to cause for the moment. She could deal with sorting how she felt about it on her own time. Instead, as Ulquiorra let go of her wrist, she reached for his hand to hold it briefly. He stared wordlessly, hand limp. She had to fight giggling at his reacting to affection like he _still_ couldn't comprehend that she'd be offering it to him. After a gentle squeeze, she released him, having gotten some physical comfort from the contact. If they weren't out in a field with the girl closing in, she would have hugged him. "Hey, do you think I could talk to her when we get back?"

He considered the request for half a second before flatly saying, "No."

"Come on, please? I won't do anything to her or tell her anything." His indifferent face showed no sign of giving in. "I just want to ask her some stuff. This is like the only human I'll get to talk to. Please, Ulquiorra?" She sighed, conceding because he seemed absolutely set on it. Begging would just annoy him. The only chance she had was if he changed his mind, which he wouldn't. Not unless it benefited Aizen's precious, oh-so-important plans somehow. That, and Orihime happened to be getting a little too close to be chatting casually with him. Wouldn't want her to see her jailer acting with an ounce of friendliness. Now that she thought about it, he probably thought she'd be 'too nice' to the human girl and ruin the intricacies of the scheme they had going.

"See you in a bit, Ulquiorra." She gave a little wave, already on her way off to make a garganta. She already had plans to go lay about waiting, like always. At least she had a 'gift' to look forward to. Maybe guessing what it was would be a good way to pass the time while ignoring how the human managed to make her regret something- because the girl was _just_ a human.

His only response consisted of him watching her walk by him before dutifully returning his attention to the mission.

* * *

 **And Orihime is there and canon has officially started for real, no more filler-y stuff from the anime- I will still be adding a few extras, of course, as I'm not going to** _ **just**_ **repeat canon the whole time. I used dialogue and scenes from episodes 139-141. Always loved the 'this is not a negotiation, it's an order' line. Had a lot more scene skips going on, which is a change up from the last several chapters. Shorter than the last couple chapters too. Anyway…**

 **Thank you to 9-Tailed-Fox-Demon, KuroNekoGami, MorteSangriz, Mestophilies, datreviewer, and aniaco for following and/or favoriting!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **thestormwriter123- I know; it** _ **only**_ **took 29 chapters to get him to realize he** _ **likes**_ **her! So stubborn. And now they have their human emotions 'expert' Orihime too. It's all coming together now.**

 **TheArdisaur- Thank you! I'm happy to hear you've been impressed by the story! And regular updates are always nice as a reader, huh? Keeps me working on this too- deadlines actually make me get things done. Anyway, thank you for reviewing and I'm glad you're enjoying!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- Why hello again! I'm glad you missed Clematis, as she is actually pretty fun to write because she's weird. And she does like Aracelis, just in a twisted way of 'I'm going to get rid of what I perceive as your problems even if it means hurting you because I hate Mirro and Ulquiorra.' If I can't work in a backstory for her, as in a human one, in story, I might tack it on at the end of the story as an extra. Mirro definitely had the threats coming with how he acts:) I'm glad the pov changes are helping, since Ulquiorra does not say an eighth of the stuff that he thinks! -its really funny with how he has an average of 3 words for like for every 15 of Aracelis's. He certainly does dwell on things, partly because he doesn't like not understanding things. And, yeah, I'm glad Aracelis's pov makes you wonder what he** _ **does**_ **feel even after having his pov to reference because that's how Aracelis is seeing the situation. She just doesn't know half the time. Definitely doesn't play well with her doubts. She's been adoring the attention, though, that's for sure. And yeah, I wanted to have them in a relationship -as in Ulquiorra sort of accepts it as fact- before the chaos of canon, with additional stressors like Mirro and Clematis, to wreak havoc with :) Thank you for reviewing again, and I'm happy to see you're still really enjoying things as they develop along!**


	31. Chapter 31- Impressions

Aracelis flopped over again, restless as she waited for Ulquiorra to get the hell back to his room. He'd been back and forth in the main tower several times, dragging Orihime to a temporary cell, then back to meet with Aizen again for some reason, and then he brought her over to their quarters, sticking her in a room a few floors below the floor his was on. Close enough to quickly reach her should something happen, but far enough that hopefully no curious visitors made it up to his room. It'd be really obnoxious having to deal with hollows coming to catch a peek at the human.

Earlier, despite it being against her better judgment, she had joined the group to meet with Aizen upon Ulquiorra's return with the girl. Aracelis stood back by the entrance, of course, not wanting to stand with Grimmjow since he happened to be the only other Número standing in the room; had to keep in line of importance, the Espada standing nearest the throne naturally. Orihime had all her attention on Aizen at the time, not that Aracelis could blame her. Always had to keep an eye on that prick. After welcoming her to the party, Aizen had asked her to heal Grimmjow's damn arm. As amazing as the human's ability was, Grimmjow back to being the Sixth wasn't exactly something she wanted. She had made a timely exit after the cat stabbed Luppi through the chest and proceeded to blow his head off with a point-blank cero. His cackling like a madman covered up her tiptoeing out of the room. She really hoped she didn't come across the cat anytime soon without Ulquiorra in tow. Not after egging him on during the mission. Ulquiorra should have stopped her sooner instead of fixedly watching her insult Grimmjow…

When she sensed Ulquiorra finally get onto the same level, she shot up, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed. Once the door opened she smiled happily. His attention drifted from her to the mess of sheets below her, her shoes haphazardly tossed to the side, and her sword on the floor near the nightstand after having clattered to the marble a while ago.

"You have made yourself at home here," he commented, not sounding particularly annoyed despite his room not being a perfect reflection of his meticulous nature.

"Yeah." Aracelis tilted her head, curious if he cared at all. She had been essentially living in his room the last few days, and he never said anything to stop her. Her preference would be making it their shared room, but she wouldn't want to intrude on his personal space. "You don't mind me being here, right?"

"It's of no consequence." He walked over to the desk, opening one of the drawers she hadn't rooted through. She couldn't see what was in it, so she lost interest in trying to look.

"Good. I like it here. I mean," she mumbled, glancing at her hand and the white fabric beneath it, "you might not be in bed a lot, but it still smells like you. The room too. I find it comforting to sleep in here because of it." The only thing that made her feel more secure was when he had his arms around her while lying beside her. Letting her cuddle with him like he did before the mission, she really treasured the memory. She hoped they could do that again… Maybe, since he appeared to be letting her stay in his room, they would. "Not like my room, otherwise known as the white-walled asylum closet." She never liked that place.

He paused, glancing over his shoulder to stare at her for her overly dramatic words. "You phrase things oddly," had been his comment before he returned to flipping through what almost looked like a notebook that he'd pulled out of the drawer. She became very curious again, leaning forward.

"What're you doing?" she hummed, watching as he precisely tore out a page near the back. Then he set it off to the side, closing the book and stashing it back from once it came. Once the desktop returned to his preferred state of pristine order, he picked the paper back up, her seeing nothing on the backside- or maybe it was entirely blank. "I'm really confused. What's with the paper? Is that my gift or something?" she asked, some nerves slipping into her words. Seemed too odd for even Ulquiorra, handing out blank sheets as prizes. It had to have some significance she was missing.

"It is."

She stared at him wordlessly. Not only because a piece of paper happened be her reward for going and behaving on essentially two missions, but because it had been in the same damn room as her the entire time. If she had snooped around she would have had it already... Ulquiorra walked forward, stopping next to the bed before holding the paper out for her to take. Which she did. And she immediately turned it over hoping _something_ was on it.

"Is this….?" What she held was far from a blank sheet of paper. The other side had a drawing of her on it. A detailed on at that. She looked back to him, eyes full of wonderment. "This is my resurrección?" At his slight nod of confirmation, she smiled even more as her eyes flickered back to the paper. She didn't really know what he meant by finding another way to show her resurrección without Solita Vista, but certainly not this. She didn't know where to begin, brain fighting whether to address the fact she had a visual representation of her sword release or the fact he could draw. After a few minutes of her silently staring at the drawing trying to decide where to start, she settled on asking questions about her resurrección, hoping he would be willing talk about the whole drawing thing after.

"Well, um," she started, looking for specifics. "I definitely didn't have that skull over my right shoulder before." She pointed at the skull on her arm, careful to not actually touch the paper and ruin her precious gift, and actually felt somewhat unsettled by it now that she saw the skull. Never at any point in her evolution did she have a skull over her shoulder, just the discolored skin of her scar. Ulquiorra had asked about it before, right after that whole mess had happened. She remembered that much. She had brushed off the topic because he'd tried to tear her arm off, which upset her, and instinct played it off every other time she'd thought about it. She pointed to the other side, saying, "I had another plate like this one over my left shoulder. Actually," she trailed, looking over the drawing as a whole. "I had more plating than even this as a Vasto Lorde. Good thing there's less now; that stuff was heavy. Limited movement and speed a bit. Nice to have _some_ though." She looked up at him, grinning at his blank expression like an idiot. "I see I got my wings, claws, and tail back with it. That's the most important thing, you know." At her poking fun of her constant bemoaning over her wings, she thought she saw his eyes soften a bit with amusement. "So what else could I do? I never did ask much, since I was so tired." And, well, things got rather complicated between them after returning from that mission. Specifics had never been exchanged.

"Upon your release, you created a shockwave that crushed weaker hollows, absorbing their reishi as they decayed. It subsequently provided you a temporary boost in power." She would have interrupted, thinking that that sounded awesome, but he seemed like he wanted to list everything, questions and comments at the end. "Your speed had been comparable to my own in my resurrección, although it is likely you could overtake it given how much energy you draw in beforehand and if _you_ were conscious. Your injuries had healed upon the release of your sword, but your ability to regenerate limbs had seen slight improvement." She really fought asking how she ended up with a severed limb during the battle, because she had no memory if it had been him- which honestly wouldn't shock her, but she didn't know why he would have- or if it had been one of the Adjuchas. "Additionally, your ceros had gained power to such a degree you had used a gran rey cero." He sounded almost impressed with her.

"Wait," she interrupted before he could continue on, unable to contain herself. She bounced up and down a few time too, embarrassingly enough. "What's a gran rey cero?" Had to be something spectacular to get his approval.

"A cero only an Espada level Arrancar is capable of using." Despite his voice being deadly serious, no hint that he had exaggerated or lied, she couldn't believe what he'd said. She wasn't _Espada_ level in power. Hell, sometimes she felt like she shouldn't be a Número, or even one of the damn servants. Yet here Ulquiorra stood, essentially saying she deserved a higher title. He wouldn't have said it the way he did if he thought it was some mistake or wrong. No, he considered it an undeniable truth.

"A-are you serious?" she muttered in awe, still hesitant to believe that he could ever possibly mean it the way she took it. It was easier to believe he messed up his words than that she was worthy of being an Espada in his eyes.

"Yes," he stated firmly, not going to let her argue and say she couldn't be that strong or skilled. "You could be a lower ranked Espada if you were not so prone to accidents and held control of your abilities."

"You… You really think I-"

"Aracelis," he said to cut her off. "I would not lie about such a matter." She didn't expect him to be absolutely adamant about making her believe his word without a single doubt. It didn't even sound like he was blaming her for how clumsy and inept she was. Hell, he sounded annoyed that she would try to deny his praise.

After a short silence consisting of her staring at the drawing again, she asked, "Is that everything, then?" As a Vasto Lorde she had a few fancy energy attacks outside of ceros and balas, so she hoped that carried over. Maybe Ulquiorra had seen her use some during that battle.

"Your bala had become more powerful, able to penetrate even thick hierro successfully."

"Neat," she mumbled, taking that as the last thing he believed worth noting.

It hit her all at once.

Her eyes widened and she looked up at him in shock. None of those hollows had thick hierros worth mentioning, and… And none of them could have caused that cut on his head except… Except… "I'm so sorry, Ulquiorra," she gasped, appalled with herself. She had hit him in the _head_ with a bala. She had injured him and… And she couldn't see any reason why she would be attacking him outside of a training session. It had been completely uncalled for and she just… She felt awful. For the act and for not realizing what had happened sooner and for not apologizing. "I didn't… I'm sorry… I'm so sor-"

"Stop apologizing." Her mouth snapped closed immediately at his cold tone. Her attention went to the less threatening floor on reflex. Definitely annoyed him. Apologies remained a touchy subject to him… maybe even more so now than before with how that came out as a command and not a suggestion. " _You_ had not been in control of your actions. _You_ did not choose to harm me. Do not apologize to _me_." He paused when she glanced up at him again, whatever he saw through the meeting of their eyes making him pace the other direction. She the only expression she caught showed he was upset, but she could hear that just from his tone. His actually stressing words with any amount of anger made that obvious. If he had been one for gestures, she imagined he would be pointing accusingly as well. "You needn't ask forgiveness from me, especially for things that are not your fault." His tone shifted away from overtly harsh- for him, anyway- back to level and flat, if a bit quieter as well, like he was trying to hide that she had struck some raw nerve. Apologies… what a strange thing to upset by. She didn't understand, but he also wouldn't explain. Another stalemate brought on by his reluctance to share how he felt.

She didn't respond, knowing she would somehow make the situation worse. Again. She still wanted to argue that it had been her fault. Whatever had happened then, it had likely repeated when he showed her Segunda Etapa. She must have attacked him, and he had stabbed her through the stomach to get her to stop because she obviously hadn't been thinking rationally. She... She didn't think instinct could take total control of her… or that it would physically attack Ulquiorra. It went as far as aiming for his head in attempt to mortally injure him if able. She didn't think instinct was that much of a problem before knowing this… Just a voice with a complex, not something that could control her and attempt to hurt the one she cared about. Instinct, it really was more than just a voice, but it was still a part of her. Even if it acted different, it could not be a separate entity. Not with how long it had been with her. Since the very beginning of her damn hollow life it'd been with her. It hadn't disappeared when she had taken control of the Gillian mass either. It couldn't be a leftover hollow vying for control since she'd passed that stage _centuries_ ago. If it truly had been in control while she had been passed out, it's actions were still hers by technicality because it was a part of her conscious and her damn _brain_.

The one time she wanted the stupid voice to react to her thoughts, let some information slip, it remained quiet.

She had no idea why Ulquiorra chose not to hold her responsible either. He deserved an apology for her attacking him without a _single_ reason because she couldn't control her damn body like a proper hollow. She felt genuinely remorseful and guilty for injuring him in any way. Did he not understand that? Considering it was him, he probably didn't. Or maybe that's _why_ he kept acting like this. Did he regret whatever had happened while she'd been passed out? Was… Was that why he was giving her affection now? Because he felt guilty and this is how he was attempting to apologize for it? So hard to tell with him… And asking would get her nowhere.

Eventually she stood up, stone cold under her bare feet, as she took a step over to the nightstand to set down the drawing, planning to find a proper place for it later. Ulquiorra had paced over to the window by then, back angled to her so she couldn't see his face. His posture was completely rigid, his hands shoved into his pockets as well. She figured he wanted her out his room now; hopefully not permanently.

Just as she reached down to grab her sword, remembering the damn thing for once, Ulquiorra's voice made her freeze. "You don't have to leave, Aracelis." She straightened her back before glancing over her shoulder to find that he had turned around to look at her. His face was blank, emerald eyes having only a faint glow of leftover emotion. That'd why he'd been silent for so long. He had to reign in whatever he had felt to meet his apathetic image.

"Oh, okay," she responded dumbly, unable to get her voice above a whisper. Her attention went back to the sheet of paper in front of her when she heard his light steps coming towards her. "Ulquiorra…" She hesitated, but figured asking would show if they could keep talking, or if she should leave anyway so they didn't awkwardly sit in the remnants of a somewhat tense atmosphere for the next few hours. After turning around, seeing him now within arm's reach of her, she commented, "I didn't know you could draw."

"It is a useless skill," he responded blandly, trying to brush it off with indifference.

"I don't think so. I mean, you only saw my resurrección once and, I guess, it looks like you remembered every detail." She had no way of knowing for sure, but she wouldn't be surprised if he had a photographic memory. He could already replay memories in their entirety, so what was reproducing a _single_ image on paper? "You have more, right? You tore this out of the back of a notebook, so there must be. Can I maybe see them?" She wanted to know what he chose to copy down. Even if the drawings were more technical than creative, the subjects might give a bit more insight into what he found interesting or thought about or something. She was curious more than anything else, really.

He stared at her, either thinking over the pros and cons of letting her see them- which she couldn't even imagine there _being_ something negative to sharing them with her. Maybe that's why it was taking so long; he couldn't find a rational way to validate it other than 'because I said so.' Honestly, what could make him _care_ about her seeing these drawings to the point he would actually go through the effort of thinking this over?

"So… If you don't want me to look… Is there naughty stuff you don't want me to see?" A joke, obviously.

The second of hesitation in answering made her raise an eyebrow at him. He waited even longer, making it apparent he had recognized the joke and had been messing with her in return. Trying to lighten the mood in his own way, she supposed. It did get a twitch of a smile out of her.

"Can I see them, then?"

"No."

"Fine," she sighed, already expecting that. "Can I _ask_ what's in them, then?"

"Nothing of importance."

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head a few times. "It's something important enough that you want it to stay secret apparently. I won't look, though, since you are so against it. I'd rather not get kicked out of room because of it…" She could behave and not look if it meant she got to become a welcome fixture in his room. He didn't say anything to the contrary so she assumed that meant he believed her. "Still going to pester you to see them occasionally, though," she added as she took a half step to the side, intending flop back onto the bed since she could stay.

"I have an order for you."

She cocked her head to the side as she looked back at him. "A personal order, huh?" He used 'I' so it hadn't been Aizen. His tone lacked that authoritative 'the lord and master told me to issue this command, so listen or else,' sound. Nothing of much importance either, though, judging the casualness of his words.

"If you desire, I would allow you to deliver the prisoner a uniform."

"You… You changed your mind?" He knew full well she wouldn't just drop off some clothes without talking to the girl. For someone so adamant about _not_ allowing her to speak with Orihime, he certainly changed his mind quickly. "Why would you…?" She sighed again. He must have decided that her being 'nice' to the girl held some value after all. "Because you figure I can be used to further manipulate her. Be her sympathetic shoulder to cry on so she has someone to consider her 'friend,' right? Wouldn't want her 'friend' to get in trouble if she did something, or maybe you think she would tell me if she planned on doing something because I am not an enemy. Seriously…"

"You find this distasteful," he pointed out. Might have been meant as a question willing her to explain her reaction.

"It's not like I have any attachment to her or anything," she clarified, hoping that that wasn't what he got out of her words. "I don't care about her. I just don't like the manipulation part. Something about it, I don't know, pisses me off." Maybe because he tried to do that to her- albeit not lately- and he would be a thousand times worse to the human. He at least cared about Aracelis and was, relatively speaking, 'nicer' to her. "I mean, why even keep up the charade? We got her here. That's the important part. I'm sure Aizen could just threaten her into doing whatever else he wanted from her without screwing with her head for the hell of it."

"Would you prefer someone else to-"

"No!" she half shouted as she held up her hands to stop him from continuing. "No, I want to go talk to her. The methods are annoying, but I'm not above doing it if I get something out of it. And you're letting me talk to her now that you found a way to justify it other than to please me." She was very surprised when he didn't deny the blatant accusation over changing his mind the second he found a suitable excuse to keep face. He wouldn't admit to it, either, though. Just leave her to guess that's what he had truly done. "You could _just_ be nice without justifying it, you know," she muttered, not expecting a reply. He didn't, of course.

"I only ask you behave in return for allowing you your fun."

"Yeah, yeah," she said dismissively, rolling her eyes. At least he didn't give a list of rules that would be a common sense matter like 'don't tell the enemy our plans' or, you know, let her escape. She'd been flattered that he had been worried about sending her off on her own, as that meant he cared, but she wasn't some damn idiot that needed babysitting. Actually, considering the brainpower of who she'd gone with to the human world, maybe it had been his intention for her to watch them. Like he trusted her with the responsibility. He was so difficult to figure out…

Instead of speaking he closed the small gap between them before raising his hand to rest it on her cheek- on the left side covered by her mask remnants of course. His fingers barely touched the boney plating as he tilted her face slightly. He often acted like her skin would burn him if he touched her during an innocent display of affection- he certainly had no issue feeling her up at this point though. So similar to what he had done nearly half a day ago before the mission, he leaned forward, lips brushing against hers lightly for only a second. She smiled, placing her hand over his to properly press it to her face before he had a chance to withdraw. Unlike last time, she didn't start a full on make out session. Honestly, she had just been looking for physical affection last time, and that was the easiest method with him. A chaste little kiss just for the hell of it, or maybe just to make her happy, she loved it just as much, if not a bit more.

"A servant will drop off the clothes so you may take them to the woman." His _charming_ comment made her snort as she held back a laugh. He was just so good at ruining romantic moments with his bluntness. After releasing his hand so he could return it to his pockets, he turned around to go do something or another. He had just stopped by to give her reward and talk with her, apparently. That was nice of him, taking a moment to see her instead of meticulously making sure Aizen's will was catered to in every regard at every waking moment.

"See you later, Ulquiorra." When he glanced over his shoulder to acknowledge her words, she gave him a single lazy wave, subtle smile on her face. He then opened the door, leaving her with the echoing of the door clicking into place. She would wait there for said servant to come with whatever uniform Orihime'd have the misfortune of receiving. Considering the options Aracelis had dug through, she'd hate to be handed something she didn't choose for herself. Even what she'd ended up with wasn't exactly her preference, but the Eighth's bizarre Fracción had rushed her. Getting out of that room with the annoying talking orbs had been way more important than absolute comfort.

In the meantime, she tossed her shoes in the vicinity of the chair, going to put them on at some point. She also grabbed the drawing before walking over to Ulquiorra's chair to plop down, and returned to admiring the one example of his skill she had. And, well, she wanted to glory in knowing what her resurrección looked like while hoping the damn release command and name popped into her head.

She hadn't paid much attention to how long she had been zoning out, but a spiritual pressure caught her attention, sending her scrambling to put her shoes on so she could go talk with the human girl. The rush certainly hadn't been for the servant. Nope. They waited outside the door patiently, not daring overstep their bounds to so much as knock. Ulquiorra had them all tamed, but this one in specific, she noticed, seemed to be particularly well behaved. She'd say Ulquiorra even had a preference for them, seeing as how they never spoke a word since their mask covered everything below the nose in unmoving thick plating and teeth. Couldn't tell any 'secrets' if one couldn't speak.

When she opened the door, she automatically stuck her hands out to get the bundle of white fabric so she could be on her way. They had no hesitation in handing the pile of white over. "That's still not healed?" she half-mocked, half-asked in curiosity, as she spotted the lines of punctures around their neck. Before there had been bruising too, like their neck had been strangled. One of the spikes protruding from their shoulders remained broken as well. How easy it was to forget other hollows lacked regeneration. Superficial wounds like that would have been healed in a minute for her. No idea who had been in a relatively damaging spat with them, but it had happened a while ago. Like, after Ulquiorra and her had begun sleeping with each other and before he showed her Segunda Etapa. She didn't think it'd been Ulquiorra, because, well, they'd be dead if they managed to anger Ulquiorra enough that he'd attack. They'd be paste on the ground, not have a few cuts that didn't really correspond to wounds Ulquiorra would inflict. "Who'd you manage to piss off, anyway? Another servant?" Actually, she felt like she'd seen another servant with similar wounds… The other one Ulquiorra favored, with the mask from the mouth up. She waited before almost impatiently adding, "No answer, I take it?"

No response aside from staring with vacant orange eyes. They could have at least shaken their head or done _some_ gesture to try to answer. Creepy hollow, that one. It didn't matter anyway. It's not like she gave a crap about who went around attacking servants. She'd just been curious- and sort of suspicious now that she'd given it an ounce of thought. Ulquiorra must know, though, so she needn't push the matter.

"Whatever," she muttered as she walked around them, closing the door behind her.

She left the servant behind, heading straight for the stairs for a fun walk down a few flights. Briefly, she had considered going back to Ulquiorra's room, jumping out the window, and then going down a few flights so she was on the right level, but decided to act like a civil person for once. And, well, she wasn't exactly sure of the window situation on the floor. Only a few levels had sizable windows with nice views of the desert after all. Embarrassingly enough, she still ended up fast walking down the stairs because bothering the human sounded like a grand time.

With her spiritual pressure, Orihime's room was like a beacon screaming find the human here. Aracelis found the 'security' amusing. A moderately heavy door seemed to be the only thing keeping the girl from escaping. Well, and the thick stone walls, but that only added to the humor of it. The girl could regenerate arms that were completely blown into oblivion, yet couldn't break down one measly wall. She didn't give any warning before shoving open the door.

Orihime whipped around, taking a step back as she held a hand to her chest in fright. Aracelis grinned at the reaction. She hadn't sensed her arrive, then. That'd been Aracelis's intention of course. She hadn't hidden her spiritual pressure for nothing. Startling humans was always so much fun. As the girl stared wide-eyed at the strange Arrancar barging into her room, Aracelis took a look around the room.

"Wow, you have a nicer room than me." Well, before today anyway. The human had a plush looking couch to lounge on- and Aracelis found herself irrationally jealous that, of all the furniture in Las Noches, the prisoner got something colored. The rug on the ground also broke up the monotony of the tiling. The table and chair weren't that great, just big enough for maybe a plate and glass. At least she had what was presumably a bathroom attached to her room; although, that made sense considering the situation. With the girl continuing to stare, she went and flopped onto the couch. "Seriously, human, consider yourself semi-lucky for not ending up stuffed in a closet or a basement. Oh, and," she added, shaking the bundle of clothes in her hand, "you might want to change into this before Ulquiorra comes to talk with you again. I don't want him in a mood if you're not listening to his orders." Aracelis tossed the clothes to the other side of the couch, noticing the amount of fabric for the first time. A modest outfit, but also horribly designed for anyone that had to be in battle.

"U-um," Orihime tentatively brought attention to herself. "Wh-who are you?"

"Aracelis Fonsecca, Ulquiorra's one and only Fracción." She leaned back, getting comfortable on the fluffy pillows behind her. Lap of luxury, here. Someone else must have had input on how to furnish this room, because Ulquiorra would have put necessities with no considerations to actual comfort. "Pleasure to meet you, human, even if this isn't really the first time."

"We've met before?" Orihime asked, appearing somewhat more relaxed now that she saw Aracelis was acting as nice as hollow could.

"Well… Not really. I followed you around while you said your goodbyes, though." Aracelis wanted to let out a laugh when the girl got a mortified look on her face, either for what Aracelis could have seen during that time, or because she had no idea she'd been followed. "And that is why I'm here. I have a question. Would you answer it?"

"I…" The girl didn't seem to know what to do or say when confronted with a friendly Arrancar. Aracelis couldn't blame her. Yammy and Ulquiorra didn't leave the best impressions. Nor did Grimmjow. Or her for that matter…

"Hey, despite all the circumstances you find yourself in, I'm not here to hurt you. If I was, I wouldn't be introducing myself." All she could think was 'damn, I already have to play the friendship ploy.' Ulquiorra figured she would have to… He always had to be right. "I seriously just want to talk nonsense with a human. That's it." She'd rather have not played into Aizen's mind game with the girl, but fine. She meant it when she had said she would if only to talk with the human.

"O-okay," Orihime whispered in response, obviously still on edge but trying to hide it under a brave face. "What do you want to ask?"

"Why'd you say goodbye to him?" She already had a vague notion why, but she wanted to hear how the girl would explain it. After, well, she would hopefully have the topic going and hide the fact of why she would be so interested in such typically human subjects. Sure as hell wouldn't let the human know about her sort-of-inferred relationship with Ulquiorra. Nope. He was to remain her scary jailer with no emotions.

Orihime's face tinged pink. "You, um, saw that?"

"I saw and heard enough." She crossed her arms over her chest before tilting her head to the side. "You said you loved him? Is that why you said goodbye to him even if he couldn't hear you? Or was it just to heal his injuries? I just," she sighed, glaring at the ground to hopefully make it easier for the blushing girl to answer, "don't understand."

"I wanted to say goodbye to Ichigo, to tell him that I…" She awkwardly laughed a few times, embarrassed by the subject obviously. "Before I… I…" she trailed off, voice beginning to lose that false calm she had. She fell silent, staving off tears in all likelihood.

"That important, huh?" Aracelis glanced up to find Orihime had trained her gaze on the floor, her arm now across her body, hand gripping her other arm in an attempt to comfort herself. Scared and sad, as to be expected. "What's love anyway? You humans talk about it all the time, act like it's the more important than survival. I don't get it."

Orihime looked back at her like she had just said the most absurd thing in the world. "You don't know what love is?" she asked in utter disbelief.

A shake of her head made Orihime have another flash of sadness cross her face. "I'm a hollow. Emotions like that don't make sense to me."

"That's… That's really sad. I don't know if I can really explain it, though. Love's sort of a difficult thing to explain, because it's very complex, but I could try if you want. I mean, if that's what you're asking."

"Explain away," Aracelis interjected before the girl went off rambling, as that seemed to be what was about to happen. It's not like the human could do a worse job explaining the concept than Aracelis. Aracelis had just attached the label to the emotions she had for Ulquiorra because nothing else in her vocabulary seemed to fit. The human's treated the word as something special, as did Orihime considering her reaction, so she had given the special title to Ulquiorra because he meant a lot to her. Beyond that, well, Aracelis remained at a loss. She had no idea if she'd been using the term correctly. In a way, she feared that she had.

"Well," Orihime said thoughtfully, apparently thankful for the somewhat distraction of having a conversation. The topic itself probably saddened her. "Love is when you really care for a person a lot. You want them to be happy no matter what, and that makes you happy too. And you never want to see them hurting for any reason. If they are, then you try your very best to cheer them up or help them, even when… Even when you're not sure how. Or if it makes you sad."

"What's romantic love, then? I mean besides sexual stuff." She had that pretty much figured out. At this point she had a vague understanding of how it affected a relationship that went beyond physical attraction as well. Unless she was delusional to believe he liked her back in a similar, more watered down, subtler way. She probably was.

Orihime's face gained another dusting of pink at the question. While not as cute as Ulquiorra blushing, the girl certainly had that innocent cuteness to her. Definitely someone that didn't need to be in Hueco Mundo. Had she been a hollow, this world would have torn her apart without a second thought a long time ago. It was surprising she'd lived this long, hanging out with soul reapers like she did. Either their previous enemies had been pathetically weak, or her friends had more skill than Aracelis presumed. "Everything I just said with… with a lot of passion too. It's, ah, when you really like someone else, and want to be with them forever. You never stop thinking about them, and when you're with them, you're feel so warm and fluffy inside. Safe too…" She got distracted by whatever memory her brain conjured. "But, when you're apart for a long time, you feel lonely and sad," she added, tone shifting back to melancholy as the situation hit her once more. The brave face she put on couldn't hold forever. Aracelis figured once she left the room, this girl would be bawling her eyes out.

The first thought Aracelis had on her explanation was 'crap.' She'd do anything to make him happy, even if that was an impossible feat and often managed to upset her in the process. She certainly thought about him all the time too. Without this war making it highly unlikely, forever with him had been what Aracelis wanted as well. Even before, when she considered the future if Ulquiorra chose not kill her, she thought he'd be beside her, following at her side as her companion until whatever end came. The loneliness thing, she felt that too, when she hadn't been able to find him. Being apart now, that prospect scared her more than dying at this point… From the sound of it, she did love him.

"That's how you feel about the guy," she stated, looking at the ceiling. "You came here to try and keep him safe, right?" The girl chose to try and protect him, because living without him sounded like a worse option. In a very irrational, emotional way, it made sense, she supposed.

"I did." She stared forward, once more determined. "I came here to protect Ichigo and all my friends."

"So adamant about that," Aracelis muttered. Did she really not expect them to come save her though? Ulquiorra said the girl would bait some of the soul reapers to Hueco Mundo. Seriously, the girl must see that, or she had really diluted herself into thinking her friends would be safe, with or without her being here? They still planned to attack Karakura regardless of her being captive in Las Noches. Her friends would get hurt no matter what.

"I want to throw a hypothetical at you," Aracelis said after another pause, wanting a different topic least the girl slip into a silent depression at her situation. She could do that once Aracelis had her questions answered. "Let's say I…" she stopped, contorting her face for effect before dubiously saying, " _love_ someone. How could I tell if someone _loves_ me back?"

"I… I think that depends on the other person's personality."

"I said _hypothetically_. Hell if I had a personality in mind." She couldn't see any way of describing Ulquiorra without it being blatantly obvious who she was talking about. Emotionally stunted, closed off, and quiet would be a dead giveaway. "Aren't there like general signs or something? Or do humans just guess endlessly?" To hell if her answer ended up being that they never understood what each other thought, that it was always a confusing guessing game. She already had that.

Orihime seemed taken aback at the irritation in her voice, her grey eyes widened again, this the first real amount of anger Aracelis had aimed at the girl. If she scared the human into silence, she would be pissed off. Ulquiorra'd never hear the end of it either. She would complain endlessly about the human being scared by a slightly aggravated tone.

"I," Orihime spoke up again, still hesitantly. She just had a timid voice to being with, Aracelis decided. "I don't really know. They would want you to be happy too. They'd do and say things to try and make you happy. They'd be there for you, even when you're struggling or when your sad." Orihime paused, wringing her hands together for a moment before saying, "Its… It's difficult to say because people show love in many different ways."

Aracelis just huffed in response. That hardly helped. She wanted something more solid than that explanation. "How's that any different from friendship?" Sure, she would accept if Ulquiorra just considered her a friend, as that was better than nothing, but she still had that fantasy of him feeling the same as she did. What Orihime said didn't differentiate the two enough.

"Well, um, it's not really. People who are in love usually are best friends too, I think. At least in long term relationships, and not flings." Orihime paused, pressing her lips together with a look of wanting to say something more. Aracelis raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Why are you asking me this?" she asked quietly after seeing Aracelis wanted to hear the question. "I mean, I don't think I'm an expert or anything, and I can't really help you if that's what you wanted."

"You think I love someone? I said hypothetical for a damn reason. I'm a hollow. Not a human. We don't have lovers. Or friends. We barely have allies." Lies. A lot of defensive lies that probably made it obvious she was lying. Ulquiorra's habits seemed to have rubbed off on her. "Honestly, I've stalked humans for a few decades, and you happen to be the first living one I've had a chance to talk to." Hopefully the subject change would keep the girl from asking more questions, or making dangerous assumptions that she wasn't a bloodthirsty beast but damn lovey human with relationship issues. "These are things that I don't understand, so I was seeing if you could explain. That's it. Curiosity."

"You… You don't really act like the hollows I've seen before…" Orihime mumbled, reminiscing over another thought considering she stared at the ground with a mix of sadness and fear. Aracelis actually found herself appreciating how the girl broadcasted her emotions on her face so transparently. Made it easier to see reactions than having to look for the tiniest twitch of an eyebrow or fractional narrowing of the eyes.

"Just because we look more human, it doesn't mean we aren't hollows," Aracelis stated, hoping to drive that point home if that's what the girl meant. Didn't want Orihime thinking they all were like this. It seemed a burden of the Vasto Lorde's reasoning ability, this more human mentality, and Aracelis was an extreme case. "We are petty creatures driven by selfish desires and survival instincts. Every single of one of us Arrancar is that way. Don't think that we're human, or that we have _hearts_." Humans liked to call the depraved heartless. Hollows fell into that category. "You'll end up dead if you think we do." Any other Arrancar that came for a 'visit' would have an ulterior motive or just want to smash her face into the ground for fun. It's how they were. "Ulquiorra'd be pissed if you die without Aizen ordering it," she added, frowning. "Man takes orders from that prick way too seriously," she said under her breath bitterly without exactly thinking it through. When she glanced up she could see Orihime staring at her in shock. "You think all of us came willingly?"

"I didn't really consider that," Orihime admitted, looking almost pitying of her. Seriously, she shouldn't feel sympathy so easy. Aracelis had assisted in abducting her. The girl should hate her no matter if Aracelis had joined the grand bastard's army by choice or force. They were _enemies._ Girl was way too nice for her own good.

"Don't mention to Ulquiorra that I said that. He hates when I don't address _Lord_ Aizen properly." Lately, he been lax about it, but she would rather not get in trouble over something stupid like word choice. He might be tolerating her disrespect for their leader _just_ when around him. Third parties might be beyond what he deemed acceptable. "You should probably use the title too, considering he's now you leader by default," she added, figuring she could spare some advice for the poor human. "And I would honestly do whatever Ulquiorra tells you without sassing him. He doesn't like insubordination. I wouldn't worry about him doing anything beyond saying cruel things though." If Aracelis ended up in the hands of the enemy, she would be moderately concerned about physical torture. Especially with hollows being the captors. Blood and violence was the hollow way after all. She couldn't imagine Ulquiorra would resort to that right away, though. Not unless Aizen told him or he became uncharacteristically irritated. "He'd threaten you before actually taking action. Not to mention Aizen said not to harm you. For the moment, anyway."

"I understand." She nodded once before hesitantly saying, "And, um, thank you?" Orihime gave her a questioning look for the kindness being offered to her by the enemy. She at least had enough common sense not to trust them completely.

"Consider it a trade. You answer my questions; I tell you snippets of advice, maybe answer some of your questions if I'm allowed." Aracelis stood up, focus on the girl as she watched her with some curiosity. "I honestly don't mind you, human. Well, except I guess your ability sort of caused me some problems."

Orihime had a guilty look as she returned her gaze to the floor, crossing her arms around herself again. "You mean earlier, when I healed that guy's arm and he…"

"Eh, Luppi had it coming. No pity for that cocky idiot." Didn't like him much to begin with. Him ordering her around and bragging about it certainly didn't change her low opinion of him. The fact that idiot had been openly questioning Aizen like there wouldn't be consequences had grated on her nerves too. If she couldn't insult Aizen, then some bratty bastard couldn't either. "I just mean the stupid cat having his arm and rank back means he can beat my face in easier," she sighed. Stupid Aizen for suggesting Orihime heal cranky cat. If she thought herself important, she'd consider he'd done it just to spite her. In reality Aizen probably did it because Grimmjow was a better fighter than Luppi could ever hope to be. "That was impressive, though, what you could do. Even Ulquiorra seemed mildly impressed with it, and gaining his interest takes a lot of effort. Especially for a human, as he doesn't like humans." She looked the girl over again. Not physically strong. Definitely not suited for battle. Healing on the sidelines and dealing with the aftermath of her friends' confrontations had to be more her thing. Rejecting fate; a rare ability indeed. More so in a human. Orihime would freak out if Aracelis sliced off her arm to feel the power in action, so she restrained herself. Explaining that she had her arm repeatedly lopped off by a certain someone wouldn't comfort the girl any. Saying she could regenerate it wouldn't be much better. She didn't want to deal with a hysteric human, really.

Orihime stared at her curiously, like she had been told the most ridiculous lie in the world. She likely couldn't believe the living wall had any opinion on her ability. Or anything. Aracelis forgot that Ulquiorra's face wasn't exactly readable to most when first meeting him. Hell, it took her a few decades to know as much as she did, and she still had problems deciphering all his micro-expressions. Especially lately, with the ones she'd never seen before…

"Anyway," Aracelis said as she took a few steps to the door, "I'm done with the questions for now. Be back in while, probably. Sort of boring around here. If anyone comes to bother you, Ulquiorra or I'll come smear them into the ground. Just remember to change into the uniform too." She walked off without waiting for any reaction or response, shoving open the door as soon as she reached it.

As she walked down the halls, she couldn't decide how she felt about her long awaited conversation with a human. She had figured so much on her own, and the human could only explain so much when not given a particular description of who had captured Aracelis's nonexistent heart. At least she had confirmed that she did in fact feel love for Ulquiorra, as terrifying and thrilling as that was. She'd need another set of questions, and a way to describe Ulquiorra's personality without making it abundantly obvious she meant him. It'd take some sort of catastrophic error in judgement for Ulquiorra to reveal his preference for her, so it's not like Orihime would be figuring it out on her own. Aracelis couldn't slip up and reveal it to her. She screwed up enough in letting Grimmjow figure out they were sleeping together… The last thing she wanted was to interfere with the plan Ulquiorra had going that required him to play an emotionless, detached jerk with no sympathy for anyone.

In any case, she had some presumed down time to think of a different strategy. Even if the girl's friends planned on showing up, they had to find a way to get the Hueco Mundo first, and then had to reach the palace from wherever they cropped up. That took time. Las Noches tended to be stagnant with boredom too.

Why would that change now?

* * *

 **Okay, all Aracelis's point of view, so… I just want to say Ulquiorra 'snapping' at her apologizing definitely was him being angry with himself still. Then also, because it was like one line a few chapters ago, the servants had been attacked by Clematis when she wanted to see what Ulquiorra and Aracelis were up to since she'd last bothered them.**

 **And Ulquiorra's being able to draw I added just because I thought it went well with the Solita Vista ability, and him saying that only what he can see is real (and therefore replicable). The guy needs a few hobbies, too. Like, he spent a lot of time ignoring everyone in Las Noches; he wasn't just staring at a wall or books the whole time. A while ago I mentioned Nel having known he could draw and fawned over the fact too, so he didn't really want Aracelis to do the same. Won't be the only time I mention this talent, either, so yep. Aracelis finally got to see her resurrección at least, and, you know** _ **asked**_ **what she could actually do. Still thinks Mirro's an actual part of her, though, but she's getting on the right track by actually putting some thought into the matter. Hurting Ulquiorra pushed her to considering it more, of course.**

 **Like usual, I hope Orihime was in character- I mean, she's not as scary as writing for Aizen, but yeah. I think, with her, she has a tendency to look for the best in people, and is sympathetic towards her enemies more often than not- she does heal even Loly and Menoly after them attacking her, so, yeah. Aracelis would seem friendly enough to talk with and try to distract her from the fact she is in Hueco Mundo by herself, planning on trying to erase the hogyoku (like, I think remember her saying that, haven't re-watched that part yet). This, of course, was only the first conversation between the two.**

 **The next chapter probably going to be a long one! Update might be late because of it, if I don't split it or if schoolwork gets in the way (a few tests coming up back to back again…), but we'll see what happens! I certainly have had it planned for a time, and want to get to typing it for real!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to Ice Salmons and ravenglow for following!**

 **haipa-chan- Haha, I get the putting things off and going o-o when suddenly everything needs to be done. I've been using this to procrastinate homework… Yeah, I figured people that read the manga might want to know what the heck I was talking about, so I put the episodes down at least. And, well, I'm not going to pretend I remember the manga since I read it once a long while ago (differences are bound to happen now). Like I plan on using another few filler episodes (okay, I** _ **think**_ **they are) where Ichigo and co is in the Menos Forest, as in I'll mention them being there while actually going over things happening in Las Noches. You gave me a good idea to use again, for a little scene, with the everyone knowing thing- Grimmjow would** _ **totally**_ **gossip/grumble out of spite. And of course Ulquiorra let her talk to Orihime; he essentially lets her do whatever she wants since it makes her happy. As long as he can pretend that's totally not what he's doing. Aracelis can't get much** _ **real**_ **info yet, but she at least knows that she** _ **definitely**_ **loves him. Boy's already so confused about feelings, he doesn't need assistance. He'll still talk to Orihime, of course, and not just canon interactions either :) Thanks for reviewing as much as you do! I really appreciate you taking time to, but don't feel bad for missing a chapter or anything!**

 **Sissy- When I saw the first review I was wondering how you'd react when you saw** _ **another**_ **update :) And I love questions! Orihime is there to help them both- albeit to varying degrees! You'll just have to see how it goes done, though, cause I'm not saying ;) There are certainly a lot of problems, with the Espada having an idea of what's going on. You bring up an interesting point with Aizen, though. I figure that he'd see that Ulquiorra will still get done what's needed- as failing would mean Aracelis is likely to die as well. And, well, before this he didn't really have a way to control Ulquiorra because Ulquiorra didn't care if he ended up dead or not. Now, if necessary -which it isn't, really, because Ulquiorra knows the best thing to do is stick with Aizen at this point- Aracelis is something Aizen can use to control Ulquiorra. And Clematis? Oh, she's plotting still of course :) Aracelis is definitely growing suspicious; hurting Ulquiorra while passed out made her** _ **really**_ **start considering what's going on with 'instinct,' though. As for Ichigo and Orihime, I might add just like some friendship-y moments to bring them closer or something, otherwise… Not much else planned, really. Anyway, thanks for reviewing again!**

 **thestormwriter- Tis here indeed! My plans commence now ;)**

 **MorteSangriz- I like thanking people that follow and favorite! You've all shown interest and are there reading after all. I'm glad you're enjoying the writing and character portrayals too! Thanks for the review, and enjoy your shadows and the story!**


	32. Chapter 32- Confliction

The last hours had been deceptively quiet, as though nothing had changed, that Aizen's plan hadn't commenced in full. Some time ago Ulquiorra returned to his room after wandering about. Aracelis had come back from her visit with the human well before him, and appeared utterly bored. He had found her in the chair, glaring at the ceiling blankly with the drawing he'd given her resting on her lap like she'd grown frustrated in staring at it. He hadn't expected much beyond satiating her curiosity, but it would have been convenient if the drawing had been enough for her to learn the name and command of her zanpakuto. No such luck, of course. Things were never so simple with her.

He hadn't given her an opportunity to find entertainment of her own, having leaned down and captured her lips before she had a chance to find a conversation topic. They had 'fooled around,' as she put it, for a while. Her language could be strange, with her human slang and hyperbolic comparisons. He found amusement in her absurdity.

Inevitably they ended up laying on the bed together. She clung to him happily in a passing haze of ecstasy, as he had intended on pleasuring her in favor for her efforts with him. From the way she whispered his name, and with how her light gasps cut off her moans as she arched her back, he assumed he had succeeded in his endeavors despite how he had very little idea what he was doing. But sex was also becoming the only time he could satisfy her anymore, pathetically. Her frustration with his inability to act consistently with his thoughts was more than obvious. In any case, she now had her arms wrapped around his waist, face resting on his chest as she contentedly cuddled up to him, silent as she apparently considered some thoughts of her own. He admittedly had his arm around her shoulders, his fingers threaded through her hair as he absentmindedly played with it -although now it became conscious as he had caught the act and had chosen to continue.

One errant train of thought that he had been dissecting was the bizarre sense of enjoyment he got from her, per usual. He had essentially given up on the idea of being a 'tiny bit' more impulsive. He simply didn't care anymore, as she had been quite happy with the attention he'd been offering her. He still held some hesitation in giving up complete restraint and control for that reason alone, though. Underneath the apparent _guilt_ he had caused himself, he believed he had figured out one other _feeling_ Aracelis inflicted upon him that had been relentlessly nagging at him in its nameless state. The warmth he felt around her, like when she genuinely smiled at him, he finally concluded it was happiness. Such a strange thing to be unable to identify. He could tell that Aracelis often felt such a thing around him -which he didn't understand- to the point he could see when she faked it, but he couldn't tell that this was what he felt with her. Like now, as she lay beside him, he was fairly certain he felt contentment. The emotion had seemed foreign after such an absence, if he ever felt it to begin with. Of course, given the similarities of how he felt now to when he had felt that inexplicable warmth around her -even when he could feel nothing else- as Vasto Lorde, perhaps he was familiar with _happiness_ to a minimal degree even then. The feeling must have intensified as… as her importance to him managed to grow. He had reservations in believing he felt the same for Aracelis as she did him, seeing as she acted so irrationally when it came to him, but he certainly felt _something_ for her. He couldn't deny that much. Everything was spiraling out of his control, which he absolutely loathed.

Such a mess of things he'd prefer not to exist; however, given his inexplicable reluctance to put an actual end to this, he would have to concern himself with the center of these emotions no longer existing.

Aracelis had revealed next to no information of use upon seeing her resurrección. He was already aware that the skull formation was connected to the parasite, that her right shoulder held importance to the monstrosity. Perhaps the scar had been an entrance wound, as he earlier presumed, and that the area subsequently became a shared nervous system between the two, proven by the pain it felt when he attacked the area. Its disturbing level of control over her brain may have come after its extended time attached to her through her evolution, evolving in parallel with her. When she entered her resurrección with the parasite in control of her body, it may have to surface to…

He let out a small sigh. No, it would not need to surface if it already held a connection to her brain. Obviously it could take over her without the skull appearing. He had witnessed that more than once at this point, whether she was under duress or simply asleep. Perhaps, in her resurrección, she became too powerful to control through its conventional means. The parasite, it was an Arrancar- while its name wasn't listed, as he had taken the time to search out this information, there was a Número created after Aracelis that was otherwise unaccounted for. It might need to use its resurrección in order to control her when she entered hers, while also having knowledge of her sword's name and command to enter it upon its will rather than have her do so whenever she pleased. This may have been part of the agreement the parasite had with Aizen, and why he would use his sword's ability to tamper with her memory. It saw her resurrección as a threat. Removing it while she was in her resurrección of her own accord, before the parasite had a chance to use its own, this was a viable option in removing it. At that point it would presumably be at its weakest, and he could tear it from her before having the human woman reject any resulting brain and nerve damage that Aracelis couldn't regenerate on her own.

Because, of course, he hadn't just let Aracelis go speak with Orihime out of _kindness_ , nor even to further Aizen's schemes. That woman would grow attached to Aracelis, perhaps even come to call her a friend. And the girl, she would foolishly give her life for her friends'. If not by her own volition, he would manipulate that woman into helping him protect Aracelis. He would be sure to keep her alive if only to help Aracelis.

If there was one thing he could definitively say about how he felt for Aracelis, it was that he held a strong conviction to keep her alive. He would _not_ be losing her again. Not after he… after he so foolishly allowed himself to become so attached to her _again_. Apparently, despite all his intellect, he had not learned his lesson. That painful ache would be tenfold now with how 'close' he allowed her… Perhaps he was the 'glutton for punishment,' to use some of her words. Masochistic would be a more apt description.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," Aracelis said softly, interrupting his thoughts. With the tone she'd taken, she felt concerned about something. Her tone immediately had his attention. She had him so well trained... "You just got really tense." Of course, her concern would be for him, as always.

She did gain another exhale from him to show that he wouldn't deny he had tensed at his line of thought… How pathetic, not being able to hide his reactions to his own mental activities anymore. Of course no one else would have noticed, as only Aracelis could cling to him like this. Maybe it wasn't so deplorable in this case… No. No, what was he thinking? That fact made it worse. He shouldn't be embracing her in the first place. She shouldn't even be in his room, let alone his damn bed.

Aracelis shifted around until she was nearly on top of him, resting her arms on his chest and her chin on her arms so she could still see him. "Something on your mind you want to talk about?" After blankly staring at her, she sighed. "Okay, that's fine." The tinge of disappointment wasn't well hidden. It had been a continuing occurrence lately. Her asking him to share something before sadly muttering reassurances that he had done no wrong. She wished for emotional intimacy… How annoying. As predicted, she immediately tried to cover her disappointment by switching topics. "Can I ask you something else, then?"

"Do you believe if I give you permission that it will improve your odds of gaining an answer?"

"Nope," she stated with a grin, taking his words as humorous. That had been his intention, of course, as his attempts at sarcasm still managed to amuse her. He hated how quickly he served to depress her. Getting through one conversation now, it had become difficult. Not meeting her expectations, even this tactic of pushing her away was becoming harder to do when confronted with her discontent. Not that he should _care_ , yet he did. "I was just seeing if you were in a chatty mood, or wanted more quiet time." She narrowed her eyes, not in show of displeasure, but smugness. "And you sassing me means you're in the mood for conversation."

"I do not believe asking a question constitutes 'sassing' you. If it did, you are a truly unruly subordinate for your endless inquiries."

"Wow, you're in a _really_ good mood to be making _two_ jokes." Even with the teasing tone, she smiled happily, by default somehow making him feel that warmth in his chest again. He needed to stop doing this… Yet like an addict he kept on trying to make her happy to feel the damn warmth _because he found it pleasant_. "So," she dragged out, not attempting to hide her curiosity, an edge creeping in as she narrowed her eyes. "Why the hell did you let me insult Grimm-cat so much? You're supposed to be the voice of reason here, and keep me from doing stupid things like prodding a feral animal."

He had no good answer. He'd known he should have put an end to their argument before it had even begun. His reason for _not_ stepping in was completely unreasonable, like everything else he did for her. Watching her condescendingly mock Grimmjow for the sake of entertainment had been completely irrational. It was something Aracelis would do, after all.

"No, answer, huh?" For only a second a smirk flickered on her face before she blanked her expression. She maintained her glare and indifferent expression as she pushed herself up, repositioning herself until she straddled his waist, looking down her nose at him. "You were enjoying it," she stated flatly. He still found her bouts authoritativeness oddly attractive. Convincing himself not to run a hand up her thigh to reignite their earlier activities took more effort than it should have. "Ulquiorra, admit you were turned on by it." A command rather than a question.

"I was."

Her cheeks flushed red like she hadn't actually expected such a firm answer from him. Insulting Grimmjow. Being covered in the blood of her enemies. _Eating_ her enemies. He found her violence attractive because it reminded him she wasn't a delicate, weak creature that bowed to others' wills, but a hollow. He understood hollows. In an incredibly odd way, he also missed her ordering him as her subordinate, if only because that had meant she had been stronger than him. That she had been the one with power. That she wouldn't die, or at least before he did. When she began deferring to him, or worse, being actively scared of even the thought of displeasing him, it made her appear far too human, and far weaker than she truly was. Not to mention she appeared rather miserable, believing she wasn't worthy of proper treatment, and fearing she was useless. If this got her to be more assertive with him because she knew he found it attractive, he didn't mind admitting to it.

"I, um," she laughed awkwardly, glancing off to the side, not sure how to react with him confirming his reaction exactly as she demanded. She brushed some hair out her eyes to give herself another few seconds to calm the rush of heat to her face. "Well, okay then. Took me off guard with that one, Ulquiorra. I'll keep that in mind when I need to seduce you," she said with wry grin, as if this gave her some advantage. She'd just be doing what he wanted. "Anyway, it's not like I didn't have fun tormenting the cat, because I most certainly did, it's just… Now, with his rank and arm back…" She bit her lip nervously before mumbling, "And, I was actually just going to, um, warn you that… That he…"

"What is it?" he asked after she trailed off, the pause lasting a few seconds. She needed prodding if this conversation was to continue.

"He figured out we're sleeping together, okay?" After snapping she sighed, hanging her head guiltily. "I… I messed up. He blurted out an accusation, and I reacted. I didn't want to burden you more, with... With how much of an inconvenience I am to you already, but I can't really fight him off myself if he does anything. I'm sor…" She paused, eyes widening a bit as she caught an apology about to slip out. He regretted snapping at her earlier, when she had not been at fault. While he did believe she shouldn't apologize to him so profusely, if at all, he had handled the situation wrong. He'd only managed to make her more hesitant to speak. Sympathy, he didn't understand how to properly express it to her even if he unfortunately felt it. Ordering her to not be insecure, it wouldn't work obviously, but he wished to help somehow. Maybe this was why she acted so erratically; trying to show sympathy for something like him must be tiring. Why she bothered, he didn't understand. He didn't deserve her patience. "I didn't mean to," Aracelis finished, finding a way to admit remorse without the dreaded 'I'm sorry.'

"I expect most of the Espada previously held suspicions. I've already decided to protect you from any danger your association with me brings." Her attention shot back to his face the moment he said he would protect her, like she couldn't believe him. But he would. He decided that _no one_ was going to take her life, and he meant it. He wasn't easily dissuaded once he made vow. "And do not concern yourself with being a burden," he added, once more trying to assuage her worries. "Your usefulness exceeds many of the Espada's."

"I… I'm glad you think so, at least."

"It's a fact, not an opinion. Do not dismiss praise so easily." He nearly wanted to curse when it came out as an order. It… It frustrated him that she would deny any compliment he offered, while simultaneously craving reassurance from him.

"Ulquiorra, I-"

Her words were cut short by a sudden increase in spiritual pressure rippling over the area. While her head whipped to the side to give a wide-eyed stare in the source's direction, he blinked slowly, trying to keep from frowning more than he already was. He hadn't expected them to arrive so soon. They must be truly desperate to save their dear _friend_ , even if she may have betrayed them. The Soul Society must have taken this possible betrayal into account, as the foolish group of intruders were all humans. No matter. They would be dealt with. As the initial wave of energy dissipated, he felt Aracelis relax.

"You know, they're either very lucky or very unlucky, appearing so close to Las Noches." She appeared to concentrate for a moment, obviously using pesquisa. "They're by the entrance Aisslinger and Demoura guard. I wonder if they'll fight each other…"

"You are to wait for orders," he warned flatly, hearing the curiosity in her voice.

She rolled her eyes before staring at him blankly. "I wasn't about to run off and go fight them. I'd just watch, if anything. It's not like they'd sense me, anyway. Seriously, I…"

He didn't respond as she continued her rant, more focused on Aaroniero's voice as the Ninth telepathically relayed an priority order to the Espada. They were to meet with Aizen to discuss the intruders, as to be expected. His sitting up made Aracelis fall silent as she automatically moved off of him. "Lord Aizen has called for a meeting. You are to-"

"Ulquiorra Cifer, if you tell me to behave on more damn time, I swear," she cut in, glaring at him. "I'm not a damn idiot, so stop treating me like one. The _only_ reason I'd let you continue to say that is if you admit you're trying to tell me to stay safe _because you care_. You're worried about me, and don't know how to express it, so you're trying to hide it with all these pointless warnings."

While he greatly appreciated her telling him off, as he was doing exactly as she theorized, that, for once, hadn't been his intent. "You shouldn't interrupt." Her glare intensified, growing colder as he brushed her demands aside once more, barely acknowledging her words outwardly. "While I am gone, I am leaving the human in you care." The warnings to behave had lately been aimed at the parasite, not Aracelis. The 'worrying' stemmed from her being injured through the damn creature's actions. He trusted _her_ to be responsible enough to compete her ordered task. And, of course, she shouldn't be in much additional danger. The Espada would be in the meeting, or face harsh disciplinary actions. They posed the most threat to her; she could presumably kill or hold off anyone else without the parasite's interference- and the parasite had seemingly been quiet as of late, perhaps having been unnerved by his threats. At least that hadn't all been for nothing…

Immediately her anger faded some as she whispered 'oh,' under her breath, surprised. "Okay. I can do that."

With her acceptance of her new duty, he stood up, prepared to take a step forward. A tug on his sleeve made him glance over his shoulder at her. Wordlessly, Aracelis released her hold as she had gained his attention, and got up to stand in front of him. He leaned down that fractional difference in height to meet her lips to his for a few seconds. Somehow he had accidentally made this a parting tradition between them. He didn't even feel the need to complain about the affection, as he found himself irrationally pleased by it to the point he'd rather not put an end to it, even if he should. Rationality had long since been thrown away.

"See you later, Ulquiorra," she said with the smile he adored. He found himself nodding subtly in response as she stepped out of his path. With nothing further to say, he left her behind.

Although, he never could quite have a peaceful walk to meetings.

He'd barely even made it under the false sky of the dome when he was intercepted. Of course, he could sense that Nnoitra had been lurking nearby even before the arrival of the humans, but had hoped the Fifth would have left for the meeting instead of bothering him. If luck existed, Aracelis's poor luck had seemingly begun to affect him as well.

He didn't spare a glance at Nnoitra, trying to avoid conversation if possible. Unfortunately, in only a few steps, Nnoitra caught up to keep pace at his side. In the corner of his vision he caught the taller Espada's wide grin. Despite wanting to use sonido to evade what was likely to be an irritating and crude conversation with the Fifth, he didn't. It'd look like he was running away if he did that.

"Shame that Aizen's called a meeting," Nnoitra began after silently following, perhaps attempting to be intimidating or something. His eye narrowed as his smirk grew. "I was just about to go see that human pet of ours."

Ulquiorra kept walking.

"You have all the toys now, don't you? The human and that feisty blue-haired woman, I bet you have fun with those two. Bet they need a lot of disciplining. Especially that Fracción of yours, with her mouth." Nnoitra cackled, already knowing that Ulquiorra found the Fifth's favorite topic revolting. With the number of times Ulquiorra actually commented on the rude remarks and called the Fifth insults ranging from degenerate to uncouth to disgusting, Nnoitra knew it annoyed him. All of this to try and goad him into a fight too. Such foolishness.

The situation wasn't helped by the fact he tensed the second Nnoitra involved Aracelis into this one-sided discussion. In his pockets, he clenched his hands.

"I bet she'd scream nicely if I fu-"

Nnoitra let out a grunt as he was nailed in the stomach by Ulquiorra's fist. The idiot flew back, a show as to how much force Ulquiorra had placed behind the blow- having him thrown through walls would have been more satisfying, however. The degenerate began shouting at Ulquiorra to fight him as he pushed himself out of the sand. Ulquiorra casually leaned out of the way of the Fifth's blade as it was tossed at him repeatedly until he was out of range. With the topic change, Nnoitra's comments were much easier to disregard.

Ulquiorra had never stopped walking. He simply returned his hand to his pocket, eyes focused forward. Still irritated, of course, both because the Fifth dare insinuate doing _anything_ to Aracelis, and because he had reacted to the imbecile's words. Annoyed as he was with the later fact, he would kill Nnoitra if he attempted such a thing. He would kill anyone attempting to harm her. He hadn't lied, saying he would protect her for her association with him. No, he would teach these foolish hollows that merely threatening her was on par with attacking him outright.

He walked into the darkened entrance of the central tower, ready to get this meeting over with so he could go back to ignoring his _esteemed_ allies. Their company was no longer needed and served to annoy him more than anything else.

He had someone better to spend time with now.

* * *

Aracelis, bound to their quarters by her duty to protect the human, followed the fight between the humans, Aisslinger, and Demoura with pesquisa. It wasn't as entertaining, trying to imagine the fight from changes in spiritual pressure alone. The lot was contained in a rather small space, movements not as noticeable as they would have been, say, if they were flinging each other around outside. Orange head didn't fight, an unknown spiritual pressure and the tall, muscular guy battling against her former sparring partners. Disappointingly, Aisslinger and Demoura were being overwhelmed. They'd be dead, crushed by the room even if the humans bizarrely decided to spare their enemies. For once, she didn't think that sort of trap to be a bad one. Defeat the Arrancar defending the entrance, have the room collapse on top of you. Simple yet effective. Not convoluted like some of the other traps in that area. Boulders rolling down passage ways, honestly, what a joke… The first time she'd been down there, she _may_ have triggered a few traps on accident. That made her as stupid as the humans, didn't it?

She shot up from bed and to her feet. In less than a second she grabbed her sword off the nightstand, used sonido to reach the other side of the room, and jumped out the window, glare already affixed in place. The scar-faced moth's spiritual pressure spiked right outside the tower, on the surface of the dome. She'd missed her arrival, too focused on the humans. Stupid mistake. Killing the moth certainly fell into her duties of protecting the human, though.

When she landed in the white sand far below the window, she narrowed her eyes. "Quite the gathering you have here," she commented off-handedly, eyes scanning over the assemblage of hollows. The pale pink-haired moth stood off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest and her pink eyes narrowed. She stood partially behind a blond man with a mask over nearly his entire face- the bird, if she remembered correctly. No expression to be seen on the visible portion of his face considering he had no eye on that side. A distance from the two stood the small, black-haired child, looking as creepy and impassive as the other times Aracelis had seen her. The mosquito. Names… She couldn't remember them honestly. She never bothered to learn their names. They were all fodder that hadn't pissed her off _too_ much. Not like their suspiciously absent ring leader.

"Who were you guys, again?" She laughed a few times at the snarl the moth let out, her marred face contorted in rage. The bird squawked, like he was about to answer, but the moth slammed her fist into his head to shut him up. If that wasn't enough hollows gathered to attack, two others had joined in on what had to be a Clematis endorsed scheme. Loly, appearing as irritated as usual, simply glared, while Menoly obediently stood at her side with a more neutral expression.

"So, you throwing me a party, little Números?" Of course, mocking them wasn't the best plan considering it was her versus five others, but she couldn't help it. She never could. And she wanted to rip that moth apart. Stabbing and poisoning her, which lead to her passing out during that battle and then having hurt Ulquiorra, Aracelis would slash the moth to tiny pieces as a petty form of revenge. It's not like she could go after instinct for what happened… The moth would have to do. For now.

"I'm going to kill you," the moth screeched, hand reaching to her sword's hilt as her teensy patience snapped. "I'll get rid of you, and then that stupid human Aizen has you two protecting, and then finally that bastard you call master!"

"Yeah! I'll get revenge for Ellzea's face!" the bird added in, earning kick to his back from _Ellzea_ , as Aracelis had just learned. After having face planted in the sand, the bird stumbled to his feet to draw his sword in such a fumbling, inelegant way that it made Aracelis's swordsmanship look like a damn expert's. No wonder Clematis had these absolute idiots running errands for her. The moth couldn't drop the fact Ulquiorra had scarred her face, so she, despite being a lowly Número, wanted to kill an Espada no matter what. Taking part in Clematis's schemes must be Ellzea's best option- although the plant could inconvenience Ulquiorra at best. The bird-brain just deferred to his leader, following after Ellzea like a fanatic. The little kid, though, Aracelis didn't see a motive there. The girl honestly seemed the most rational out of the group… Also, Clematis's obsession still didn't make sense, but why would that nutcase need an actual, sensible motive?

"I don't like that _human_ having all of Lord Aizen's attention," Loly growled, drawing attention to herself. "So if I have to go through you to kill the little princess, I will!" The pig-tailed girl raised her hand, a cero slowly gathering as if to threaten Aracelis. It didn't. She would be terrorizing these idiots to the best of her ability. A fun diversion from staring at the ceiling, at least.

"Drain," the child stated, right to business, as she drew a dagger from her side, "Aguja." Her spiritual pressure increased dramatically- although still relatively pitiful- for a few seconds before the sand cleared away, her form shifted into more insect-like. The child regained a set of wings, her legs gone and replaced with a red, translucent-glowing bug-like abdomen, four arms with sharpened blades at the end, and her face covered with a long proboscis-resembling mask, only one red eye still visible underneath. Aracelis felt pissed off that a tiny child-like hollow could use its resurrección, while she, a damn Vasto Lorde, couldn't.

"Obscure, Torbellino!" The bird squawked as he too took his resurrección. At first she was flattered that they saw the need to use their resurrection's right away against her. Then she recognized if they all did, she _might_ end up needing help. It all depended on a certain temperamental voice. The bird regained much of its gigantic form, four sets of dusty feathered wings beating rapidly to kick up a whirlwind. She forgot that that thing would be annoying, creating sandstorms for all these other fools to hide in. First to die, then.

Aracelis used sonido to shoot upwards when the ground erupted with the collision of two cero's; one from Loly and the other from the open mouth of Ellzea. Again, she moved to the side when Menoly fired a bala- and an ill-controlled one at that. Of course, in that time, the bird monstrosity began wildly beating his wings while laughing like a lunatic. A wall of white dust choked the air.

"Govern, Polilla Reina!" Ellzea shouted from below, making Aracelis curse. She hadn't wanted the toxic moth fliting about too. Having her stomach melted away again was something Aracelis would prefer to avoid. At least Loly and Menoly seemed hesitant to be there, not going into their resurreccións, or doing much more than filling the air with poorly aimed ceros and balas.

Ellzea broke out of the sandstorm, lengthened claws breezing by Aracelis as she lazily stepped to the side. The moth had regained her wings, some plating over her chest and hips, and sharpened claws, but remained the most human of her group- the strongest of them still, but also still dim-witted. Immediately Aracelis's eyes burned, throat on fire as she breathed in the dust shaken from Ellzea's wings. She coughed once, seeing blood droplets falling to the ground below. Spreading toxic powder; the moth had a new, annoying trick. At least it was weaker than what was in Ellzea's claws; the effect didn't last nearly as long, regeneration able to fix the injury quickly enough. Aracelis wiped the blood from her mouth, knowing that she would not be letting that happen again. Dissolved lungs would create an actual problem. No, those wings, she was slicing them off the second she got a chance.

' _Destroy these idiots already!'_ Instinct cut in, making Aracelis nearly stumble from the surprise of hearing the booming internal voice. It'd been a day of silence; she got used to it shutting up. She was lucky it wasn't around earlier, or it would have been positively appalled with what Ulquiorra and she had been doing… ' _Devour them already! Stop fantasizing, you idiot!'_

"For once," Aracelis whispered, about to do more than dodge the band of miscreants' attacks, "I agree with you." She needed to focus- although yelling at the voice for attacking Ulquiorra, knowing it was listening, was a tempting idea. She could always fantasize later, or ask him to do it again.

' _Shut it and fight, whore! Or I will!'_

"Fine," she growled, wanting to antagonize instinct some more with her inappropriate thoughts, but she raised her arm to start tearing into the horde.

But then she sensed _her._

On the other side of the tower, below the dome, firing a cero to break through the outer wall, was the weed herself. She expected this to be a diversion of some sort, but… With all of these hollows throwing themselves at her… She wouldn't be able to go after Clematis. The weed, she planned on doing _something_ with Orihime. Leading the angry brigade of hollows in their resurreccións into the room with the human _and_ Clematis, the girl was liable to end up dead one way or another. Clematis, despite appearing scatterbrained and useless, could be quite manipulative with all the information she had. Who knows what she learned from reading Ulquiorra's memories, and anyone else's that she managed to wrap her vines around.

"Damn it," she whispered under her breath.

Either she had to defeat everyone out here first, which was highly unlikely to happen in time, or wait for Ulquiorra to return so he could wipe them all from existence. Hopefully that would be soon, because Aizen had dragged a simple "go kill" or "don't go kill" decision out for a stupidly long time. What were they doing in there that it'd taking so damn long? Having a tea party?

' _Kill all of these fools, and then we can go after that damn weed! I'll have that disgusting creature's head on plate!'_ Instinct's voice was filled with as much rage and loathing as usual, but, when directed at Clematis and not Ulquiorra, Aracelis found it suitable. She did wonder how Clematis managed to piss instinct off to such a degree, though. _'I will tear the bitch apart for her interference!'_

Aracelis opened her hand, directing a cero into the ground, and effectively scared herself. The sand on top of the dome had been blown to the side in a tidal wave of white. A bit more power and there would have been a gaping hole in the dome. Okay, maybe just damage it and not punch a hole through, but she'd be in trouble nonetheless. The sandstorm of the bird's had been dispersed momentarily as well, like she planned, but she didn't expect the blast to be so powerful. She still had a ton of Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure to work with even days later; Segunda Etapa had just been _that_ powerful.

' _I planned on feeding on that, but I'll let you use some, girl. Don't waste it.'_ instinct muttered in reluctance. _'We'll just feed off this garbage once they're all spattered on the ground. It'll be worth it then.'_ For whatever reason, instinct despised this group of hollows. Clematis in particular, like she had done something that personally offended instinct. And it said something about her interfering too… Other than inadvertently making her and Ulquiorra closer, Aracelis couldn't find the reason to instinct's hatred.

'I'd rather use it all,' she shot back mentally, deciding she didn't time to decode all of instinct's ramblings. Ulquiorra had made sure she absorbed plenty of his spiritual pressure so she had some energy to work with in a moment like this – or she liked to believe that, anyway-; it wasn't instinct's to monopolize for _food._ She wasn't even hungry. Damn thing acted like a starving pig.

A bala almost smacking into her face followed by Ellzea swopping in for another swipe made Aracelis push the 'complain about instinct' agenda back for a later time. If she couldn't stop the plant from reaching Orihime, then she would just need to be done with this battle before Clematis brought her harm. She didn't have time for instinct's nonsense right now.

Time to start slicing away limbs.

* * *

Orihime paced back and forth, unsure what to do. Ichigo, Chad, and Uryuu, they had come to Hueco Mundo already… And she had mixed emotions about that. She was really happy, of course, because they were there, maybe to help her, but that defeated the purpose of her coming here in the first place. She didn't want them to get hurt, especially on her account if that's why they'd come… She'd been trying to give them time to prepare for the war… And now, even though they'd come, she had something else she needed to do.

After seeing the Hogyoku, she knew she should try to destroy it. Or, well, reject its existence. Even if she didn't entirely know if it would work, it was something only she could do. And she knew where the Hogyoku was kept. But, then again, escaping the cell, she couldn't figure out how.

A few minutes ago, she thought now would be the perfect time to escape because she was fairly certain Ulquiorra had left, and that Aracelis hadn't been around. However, she didn't seem to be able to sense Aracelis's presence while in the same room, so of course she had been guessing that the odd Arrancar had left too. But then…

Five other hollows had shown up right outside the tower. All of them very strong, and releasing a bunch of spiritual pressure as they fought. She could hear the battle; sometimes booms would echo through the room. Vibrations occasionally shook the floor when the tower was struck. Various colored lights would flicker outside the window too. She couldn't tell who was fighting the hollows, because she only could feel the five other spiritual pressures and not a sixth, but assumed that it was Aracelis. Since Ulquiorra was gone, then Aracelis must be in charge of watching her. And, by default, protecting her. Some of the energy blasts that Aracelis had used... They were freighting with how… Heavy was the best way she could describe it. Maybe even dark. The energy made her made her skin crawl, especially because the blasts seemed to come from nowhere. Aracelis was apparently powerful despite her lack of spiritual pressure. Orihime should have guessed that, since Aracelis was Ulquiorra's subordinate. She doubted he would keep someone useless around for long… Still, Aracelis was fighting five other hollows at once, so Orihime felt worried that the hollows would come after her next if Aracelis was defeated. And, despite her being a hollow, Aracelis didn't seem like a bad person. Maybe a bit brash and demanding, but not bad. Orihime would rather not have her get hurt. Especially since Ulquiorra was much scarier than Aracelis, and she'd rather deal with someone that… That seemed more human than that coldhearted wall. It was really pathetic of her to feel so lonely already... Rukia had been so strong, waiting to be rescued for such a long time…

Orihime wrung her hands together, trying not to go off on a nervous tangent. Focus! She needed to focus. There was just so much to consider in such short amount of time… She felt even less safe than before, with the battle just outside her cell. Running off now, if she could make it outside her cell, the fighting would create a distraction. Here, at least, but not near the Hogyoku. The Espada _and_ Aizen might even be there. She had no idea how many hollows she might run into on the way… Then she would just get caught and be in trouble, making her situation even more impossible to escape from. She needed to be careful, in case she only had one chance to erase the Hogyoku.

And, of course, she was so worried that her friends would get hurt. She didn't want them to do anything even more reckless than coming to Hueco Mundo. Especially Ichigo… She hoped they hadn't come just to help her… She'd feel so selfish, making them put themselves in danger because of her actions.

The door slamming open made Orihime jump into the air before whipping around, hand held to her chest as her heart tried to leap out of her throat. Her eyes widened as she took a small step backwards, back pressed into the cold wall behind her. The door crashing as it closed made Orihime feel more trapped than when she had been alone in the room. Cornered, with nowhere to run and no one to help her. That desperation was what she already begun to feel creeping into her mind as her heart pounded beneath her shaking hand.

A tall woman had her lime colored eyes transfixed on Orihime. An Arrancar, of course, with mask over the left side of her face, the jagged teeth forming a wicked smile. She had a hole through her stomach as well. No zanpakuto, though…

"Aw~ You're so cute in person!" The strange woman gushed, the high sound jarring enough that Orihime flinched once more. The Arrancar raised her arms to the side before waving them excitedly, the oversized sleeves of her shirt billowing with the movement. "So, _so_ adorable, human!" Her smile did nothing to calm Orihime's nerves. No, this hollow, with her exuberance, held a different sort of menacing presence. Faked friendliness could be just as terrifying as emotionless silence. Just as she tried to open her mouth to ask why the other was there, the green-haired woman's smile faded as quickly as it appeared. "I do hope we can speak later, because I have a time limit right now. Be a good human and cooperate, Orihime. I need your help with something."

Before Orihime could question the Arrancar, she stepped forward. In one movement, the large sleeve was folded onto itself, revealing beneath it a bundle of thorny vines instead of a hand. Worse than that, a gleaming piece of metal stuck out from the green mass. Orihime knew it could only be one thing. Her heart beat erratically as she froze in place, the spiritual pressure around her increasing.

"Entangle," the woman said with a wide grin, "Memoria."

This was the first time Orihime had seen this for herself… The Arrancar were all really scary when they released their swords. The strange woman giggled maniacally the entire time, too. Quickly the woman went from mostly human in appearance to more hollow-like. Her long hair turned to vines, and all around her waist she gained yet more vines. Her appearance consisted of writhing vines on a human torso, which made for an odd combination that Orihime found incredibly unsettling.

"Tsu-Tsuba-"

She lost sight of the hollow for a second, not expecting her to move so suddenly and taken off guard, letting out a strangled half-scream when that creepy smile was right in front of her face. "Now, now~ You know that won't work against us," she chided. "I'm actually surprised you can still use that, honestly. I thought Yammy destroyed it or something? Was Ulquiorra wrong to believe that?"

Orihime, of course, didn't answer, but the fact the woman seemed to know so much about her confused her as much as it worried her. She'd never seen this hollow, or anything like her. How she knew about Tsubaki having been destroyed… "Wh-what are you doing?" she squeaked in panic as the plant creature wrapped a vine around her waist before dragging her away from the wall. No matter how much Orihime tried to dig her feet into the ground, the Arrancar easily moved her. Once there was just enough room, the hollow slid in behind her, securely wrapping more vines around Orihime's body as she pulled her closer. Then she pointed a few vines at her, like she would stab them through her if she made the wrong decision.

"Now, Orihime, I want you to shield us both, okay?"

"I…" She wouldn't. She wouldn't protect her if that's what she wanted. But then the woman might be killed, too, and even if she was an enemy Orihime didn't really want to inadvertently get anyone killed…

"Now," the woman started again, voice lowering from the overly cheerful tone she seemed to prefer, "Orihime, I want you to shield us." At the tips of the vines bright purple light gathered. Orihime tried to wiggle away before the energy fired, but felt a few of the thorny vines ripping into the fabric of her clothes. If she struggled much more, she'd be cut apart too… "If you don't help me, I'm going to have to kill you. I won't let Ulquiorra _just_ kill me. No matter what, I will be upsetting that bastard one way or another. If it looks bad for me, you're going to have to die. So, for your own interests, shield us. Now!"

"S-santen Kesshun I reject!" Being held hostage like this, she didn't have much choice. At… At least this way it sounded like she might have a chance. Someone might come help her, so if she stayed alive until then at least…

"My name is Clematis, by the way," the Arrancar cheerfully introduced herself, like she hadn't been making death threats half a second ago or had several charged ceros aimed for her still. "I do hope we can get along, Orihime!" She giggled madly for another moment before shifting back to whispering in all seriousness. "Seems like I got you just in time."

The door opened again, slowly groaning as it was moved out of the way. Orihime didn't know whether to be relieved or not, honestly. Ulquiorra, with as blank as expression as ever, glanced over the situation wordlessly.

"How mean, ignoring Aracelis to come here instead," Clematis taunted. "You'd hate for her to get hurt, right? Are you _that_ much more loyal to Aizen than your dear Aracelis? Risking her safety to fulfill his orders oh-so-dutifully?"

Even if Ulquiorra's expression never changed, Orihime found Clematis' words to be very strange. She wasn't taunting him with the fact she had her held hostage, but that he wasn't helping Aracelis… Either Clematis was insane, which appeared entirely possible, or she truly believed her words would bother Ulquiorra. Like he cared about _anything_ , let alone someone else.

He said nothing in response. He only watched Clematis carefully, eyes narrowing the tiniest fraction. Orihime didn't feel comforted in that being the first expression she'd seen him make.

Orihime kept quiet, unsure of what to do as the two stared each other down. There was no escaping, so her best option was having Ulquiorra protect her somehow, but no one could do anything right now. Not with how Clematis had a human shield _and_ Orihime's shield. Ulquiorra wouldn't just attack, right? He had orders to protect her, so he wouldn't just kill her to kill this Clematis, right? She didn't really know for sure… The murderous intent in his eyes, Clematis appeared to be a special sort of infuriating to make Ulquiorra look so annoyed.

A stalemate. Orihime found herself trapped between two hollows in some sort of grudge match. What a terrible place to be…

There was certainly no escaping now.

* * *

 **Haha, yeah, I ended up splitting up this chapter and the next. Otherwise you'd be waiting forever for an update; I missed a week+ of writing time with all the school things I had going on (and now I have 3 tests of the same day -_-), so, yep. Anyway, I hope it was at least sort of worth the wait! Clematis is back, doing her thing~ She knows all about Orihime from the last time Ulquiorra had been threatening her; she took a peek at his memories without him realizing it, because she didn't show him anything and** _ **totally not because Aracelis had been closing in on them and he was 'freaking' out.**_ **Not that she had this all planned, as this was just a convenient time to make a move. And now Clematis has a lovely shield to protect herself with because of it~ What will happen, I wonder?**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Thank you to Drakkenor, Bullial, Haruna Shikaio, jelkojunpei, sven123123123, and Reclun for following and/or favoriting!**

 **thestormwriter- Yeah, I thought so. I went back and watched that part again since I'd planned on at least mentioning it this chapter. But, like, at the same time, how did she see that working? She didn't really seem to have a viable plan beyond 'I should try getting rid of it.' And, well, Ichigo did show up awfully fast so maybe she never had a chance to do much. IDK, I just planned on** _ **at the very least**_ **showing she** _ **tried**_ **to leave instead of the anime where she just appeared to sit around. Glad to hear she's in character, though! She's just a lot different from everyone else I've been writing for right now. I was bizarrely excited to use the normal fear responses in the heart for once.**

 **haipa-chan- Ulquiorra do something extreme to demonstrate his point?** _ **Why never**_ **. He already did the extreme tests of tearing her apart for study, it'd be hard to escalate that further. I'm glad the simpler 'I'll draw a picture' made sense. And of course he'd let her talk to Orihime, the big softy let's Aracelis get away with everything- but he still always has his ulterior motive to fall back on, that one. There's certainly a reason I chose for Grimmjow to say she's got Ulquiorra 'whipped' because he sort is. The abrupt question asking was actually a change I made when I started that chapter because, yeah, Aracelis's interactions with humans and soul reapers tend to be abrupt and demanding, if not violent, so she wouldn't treat Orihime much differently at the start. Aracelis is definitely having problems getting answers** _ **at the moment**_ **:) Oh, she is getting ever closer to seeing Mirro as something more, Ulquiorra's remarks helping her get there- Mirro is more than displeased, I assure you. This Menos filler I'm using to buy some much needed time to answer quite a few questions that have been lurking about ;) Glad you're excited for the 'after' bit of the story; I've considered removing that 1** **st** **chapter** _ **so many times**_ **but always end up saying 'no, it works' for the curiosity factor. Anyway, thank you for all the love!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- At long last indeed, Aracelis has a human to chat with about feelings- although, at the beginning, she definitely didn't think she would be discussing** _ **her own**_ **feelings. This was only the first conversation to, at the very least, build an understanding between the two. Ulquiorra** _ **is**_ **super scary when he holds a personal grudge against you, especially with his arm stabbed through your gut while in segunda etapa- and, well, Mirro hasn't had much of an opportunity to do much because Ulquiorra's been nearby Aracelis a ton, Aracelis is catching onto his exitance, the soul reapers in the human world prevented escape on that front, and, well, Mirro is not all too willing to give up Aracelis's body under anyone else's terms if he can help it. Confronting Ulquiorra, Mirro wouldn't want to do it in his own body either. And Ulquiorra has most certainly said 'fuck it' because he is** _ **totally**_ **living for the affection, even if he tries to pretend it's** _ **just**_ **for her sake. He just wants her safe, and he will protect her with all he's got- sounds like** _ **someone**_ **else, huh? He's definitely come a long way indeed! You reviewed right when I was editing too, so you get a very speedy update :) Thanks for reviewing again!**


	33. Chapter 33- Entangle

Clematis stood behind the girl, vines securely wrapped around her so the human couldn't escape. A living shield to use should Orihime's ability fail her. Several ceros were charged, ready to fire should Clematis see the need to take the human to death with her. The weed knew more than he anticipated, using Orihime as such an effective shield to carry out her absurd scheme, whatever it was. He wondered who this information had come from: the girl, or himself?

A cero would destroy the woman's shield and incinerate the two. A bala would break the shield, and, in return, likely severely injure the human while also allowing Clematis to discharge her ceros to finish the girl. Should he use his spiritual pressure to subjugate them, he would slam the two the floor, Clematis still having a chance to use a cero before her weaker energy was crushed away completely. If he used sonido, he could likely smash apart Orihime's barrier and try to pry her away from the plant, but the thorns on Clematis's vines would tear into the girl if moved in the slightest, and then Clematis might have time to use a cero. The frailty of the human was certainly troublesome. Clematis's resurrección did not improve the situation, giving her slightly more strength to cling to life. She was aware of how dangerously she teetered on the precipice of death.

How irritating. He would have to listen to the plant blather on as he waited for her to inevitably make a mistake in her self-caused distractions. At the moment, Aracelis appeared to be handling her situation well enough on her own. That allowed him to focus on protecting the woman from the deranged weed until he was in a better position to act. He had hoped to end her exitance as soon as he arrived instead of listening to the incoherent ramblings of the insane.

"How mean, ignoring Aracelis to come here instead," Clematis taunted. "You'd hate for her to get hurt, right? Are you that much more loyal to Aizen than your dear Aracelis? Risking her safety to fulfill his orders oh-so-dutifully?"

Damn the creature for being so familiar with his thought process.

Right now, disturbingly enough, he did feel anger towards Aizen for this. Not for his orders to protect the human, but for the meeting. Dragging it out, forcing them to sit at a table sipping tea instead of getting to business… The second Aracelis began fighting, Ulquiorra had wanted to leave to help her, _and Aizen knew it._ He leisurely gave out his orders after having them wait to be served tea all to deliberately prolong the meeting. Should Orihime end up dead, it wouldn't be much of an actual problem for Aizen. It would only mean that Ulquiorra failed to execute his orders, resulting in punishment sure to involve the source of his distraction and wavering loyalty. Aizen had used the opportunity as a subtle warning that he found Ulquiorra's behavior out of line. It had all been a passive reminder telling Ulquiorra where his priorities should lie, to whom his loyalty should belong.

He narrowed his eyes. This was entirely annoying indeed. "What are you doing?" he asked flatly, giving into the weed's chatty nature in hopes she would distract herself with her own theatrics so he could tear her asunder sooner. He wanted to snap her neck in half for all the irritation she caused.

"Oh, you say that so meanly!" She pouted, her whiny voice continuing on, "We aren't friends, Ulquiorra? I just wanted to say hi… maybe share some stories with you again." The weed burst into a giggling fit when he didn't respond to such an inane, pointless statement. "I've been hearing some very interesting rumors lately! And, well, I'm sort of upset with you for our last visit too." Clematis grinned. Revenge of some sort was her motive, then. Predictable.

She never moved, keeping her body safely behind Orihime. She knew her odds of surviving this depended entirely on her concentration. One wrong move would be her demise.

"Wha? No reaction to any of that!? Oh, and here I thought I would have had your attention…" The creature sighed dramatically while shaking her head.

Of course she didn't gain a reaction. Revenge was an obvious motive for any hollow. He might not be able to find a rational reason to her fixation on harassing him, but he understood it as revenge driven. He also had a guess to the supposed rumor she'd 'heard.' No, he was aware the weed had attacked a few of his servants, sifting through their memories for whatever she deemed useful. In all likelihood, she was broaching the subject of Aracelis being with him constantly, and that they were sleeping together. Too bad for her, he didn't care about her opinion on the matter. He didn't even particularly care if she spouted it off to the human- so long as she didn't dredge up the past as well. Manipulating such a weak human would remain a simple matter as long as she didn't pity him.

"Are you just going to ignore me?" Clematis feigned shock before laughing to herself a few times.

"Release the woman and your death will be quick."

"Not going to pretend you'll let me go, huh?" A vine wriggled out of the mass, wrapping around the girl's throat as a clear threat.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Orihime squeaked, apparently regaining the senses she had lost in her stupor as she listened to Clematis's ramblings. Her arm twitched to grab at the vine around her neck, but she thought better of it when Clematis tightened her grip around the girl's waist to trap her arms in a mess of thorns.

"I'm not going to let her go so easily. This is all for justice!" Clematis's face lost its usual grin. "I really, really don't like you, Ulquiorra. I don't like the parasite, as you call him, either. I want you both to suffer and die in absolute misery for what you've done. I'm going to do everything I can to do just that!" She chirped happily. "Unfortunately, for Aracelis, my hate for you two is greater than my infatuation with her is. She's a necessary sacrifice in the end. And, well, being used is her specialty anyway, right?" She grinned, swaying slightly to the side. Orihime bit back a scream as a sharpened thorn pressed into her throat, ever so close to piercing her weak skin. "Who cares who kills her when she's fated to die? If anything, I'm saving her from even suffering longer as you two imbeciles fight over her body like two curs pulling at a steak!" He continued to glare at the weed as she smirked, knowing the comment would irk him. She knew he despised the parasite's words.

"You would have me believe you act in her interest? What nonsense." No wonder the creature's motive made no sense; the sociopathic weed had a warped sense of justice guiding her. Justice, such an antiquated concept. Fairness was a falsehood believed by the weak to deceive them into complacency. In truth, someone always lost and someone always gained. Engaging her in the topic, while he absolutely didn't wish to listen to her babble on about such a dumb subject, would likely prove distracting. "Your justice, it holds no logic."

"Aww, you don't understand? That's too bad, I-"

Her eyes went wide as rubble flew across the room.

* * *

Aracelis cackled as the bird fell to the ground, spinning in a circle while blood spurted out of its fresh wounds. One cero. All it took was one damn cero and its wing snapped off! She thought it was hilarious. The second wing nearly fell off in her hand as she pulled at the pain-stricken pile of blood and feathers. As disgusting as the dirty creature's blood was, she had taken a bite and tossed the remains to the side, destroying the limb with a bala. No more evolution for bird-brains. While Geero- as the moth screeched his name in anger many times- flopped helplessly on the ground, Aracelis glanced at Loly and Menoly, who had frozen in place as soon as the Espada were released from their meeting. The opportunists had grown hesitant in light of possible punishment. With Ulquiorra handling Clematis, Aracelis had the chance to properly antagonize her enemies instead of rushing past the fun of winning for once in her existence- okay, that was a bit dramatic, but after getting beat up the last few battles winning was a hell of a lot more fun.

"Loly, we should leave," Menoly tried to reason with the seething pig-tailed girl. "If we don't go now-"

A backhand to the face shut Menoly up. Loly glared at her before narrowing her eye once more at Aracelis. "Don't think we're running away from you!" she screamed, pointing a finger at her. "I'm just bored of staring at your ugly face!"

"Yeah, yeah." She waved her hand dismissively at the two. "Crawl back into the dirt, worms." Another round of laughter burst out of her when Loly miserably failed in aiming a bala for her head. Barely had to tilt her head for it to miss! She raised her hand, smiling. "Now, what was that? A bala?" Energy crackled around her hand, her allowing for a bala to slowly charge just to threaten the two. Then she punched the air, blue sphere blasting into the ground as a last moment distraction saved Loly from having her defiant glare removed from her face- and, well, having the rest of her face, if not her whole head, removed as well. Menoly dragged the stunned Loly away before she had the brilliant idea to continue fighting like the stubborn idiot she was.

"Damn it!" Aracelis hissed, kicking Ellzea in the stomach to get the moth to release her. Tackling her while she terrorized, how rude. "You're so damn obnoxious," she muttered as she watched her skin flake off her arm where the poison ate away her flesh for the billionth time. It healed after a second. External injuries were exceedingly easy to regenerate when she didn't receive hundreds of gashes a second- Ulquiorra and his speedy slashes sucked. The moth's poisoned wings, as long as not inhaled, were useless indeed. Her attacks were also so clunky and slow that Aracelis had managed to avoid being slashed by the moth's claws the entire battle. When the idiot didn't have the sneak attack advantage, she could handle her without a single problem it seemed.

Ellzea picked herself out of the sand, spitting out a mouthful of dirt and blood with a hilariously contorted look of disgust that made Aracelis grin. "I'm done playing," Aracelis stated flatly, expression blanking as the moth looked up at her. Blue light made the moth vanish from sight, her pained wail filling the air. As the dust cleared, the pink-haired woman knelt on the ground panting, pulling a red pulsing pod off her arm before it siphoned away all her blood. That happened to be the only reason she had survived; she had been saved by her ally. Ellzea's resurrección crumbled away as blood ran down half of her body, leaving her frozen up in pain. Ruined the rest of her face now, Aracelis thought in amusement. She wondered who the moth would hate more now. Ulquiorra for the long scar over her face and chest, or her for the half-burnt face?

"Knocking her to the side with weird pod attack of yours," she commented, turning her attention to the mosquito buzzing on the edge of her vision. "Didn't think you'd be protecting her like that." The child had been relatively inactive in battle since Ulquiorra had arrived to confront Clematis. That didn't mean she hadn't been wounded earlier; no, Aracelis had sliced off three legs over the brief time the mosquito had been engaged in battle. Her resurrección wouldn't last much longer as her injuries got the better of her.

She was ignored completely.

"Ellzea," the kid called with authority, "you and Geero should leave. Rudbornn's sent a few of his soldiers this way. I won't pity you again."

Aracelis narrowed her eyes, sensing the mosquito had told the truth. The 'Exequias' had been called to investigate, or perhaps eliminate, the trouble makers. Took long enough. Getting a timely reaction from anyone in this white hell of a palace was apparently impossible. Those humans, if they made it into Las Noches, they could scurry about for _days_ without anyone deciding to actually deal with the problem. Honestly, this place…

Feather-brain took the brat's orders seriously. Having long since come out of his resurrección after being overwhelmed by injuries, he drunkenly stumbled over to Ellzea to offer her a hand. She slapped his hand away, of course, before standing and punching him in the face. Aracelis had noticed a pattern of subordinates being physically slapped around by their leaders; she was happy Ulquiorra never acted this way, and she only batted him around in battle when she'd been in charge of him. The now one-armed Geero tripped after Ellzea as she dragged her half-corpse the opposite direction. Not that Aracelis would be letting them escape; no, they were her kill. They'd pissed her off.

Just as she twitched to use sonido and finish the wounded duo with her bare hands, the ground erupted once more in a wave of displaced sand. She looked over her shoulder, using her arm to cover her eyes as the irritating grit bared down on her. As it began to clear, she searched for the mosquito's shadow seeing as how the blast had been the kid's handiwork. Nothing from any angle. No attempted surprise attack to be had. Aracelis raised an eyebrow as she searched out the spiritual pressure instead, expecting the child to be fleeing as well.

Another loud blast rang out. Aracelis whipped around, attention back on the tower just becoming visible in the clearing dust. A gaping hole had been blown in the wall. One that lead directly into Orihime's 'cell.' Had the kid gone in to rescue that stupid weed?

Aracelis decided to follow.

Her feet touched down on the rubble covered floor. She glanced to the side to see Clematis staring fixedly forward without her usual grin. Orihime's eyes were widened as she looked on in absolute horror. As Aracelis turned her head she caught the end of the bloodshed. Miraculously remaining clean himself, Ulquiorra stood in a sea of fresh blood. The halved corpse of the mosquito lay on the ground in a pile of gore, decaying slowly into nothingness.

Orihime's mortified scream ended the silence.

"Bastard!" Clematis shrieked, voice rage filled.

As Aracelis tore her attention away from Ulquiorra's impassive expression and her wonderment on how he managed to stay clean after spraying the entire room with blood, she felt something grasp at her ankle and yank. She stumbled, turning her head to see Clematis with a very worrying expression on her face: unbridled fury. Before she could react, more vines lashed out to grab her, firing a few ceros at Ulquiorra to provide a brief distraction through a violet explosion. Aracelis was quickly pulled behind Orihime's barrier, the crying girl unable to react as the battle kept going even after the death what appeared to be a child. Immediately Aracelis began trying to free her arms from her side, snapping off vines only to have them quickly replaced, the thorns sinking into her skin again and again.

"How dare you kill Licidae! I'll make you pay! All of you!" Clematis screeched. "ALL OF YOU!"

Aracelis blinked rapidly as her vision began fading to black. Underneath the confusion, she registered sounds, but no longer Clematis or Ulquiorra or anyone she recognized. As her vision warped to something foreign yet still vaguely familiar, she realized what was happening.

Clematis was using her ability.

Blurred figures with indistinct murmurs filled her mind. Fuzzy images with no meaning caused emotions to spike and fall erratically, like she had no control over the situation at all. Suddenly, words popped into her mind along with the distorted images. Mother. Father. Parents. Siblings. Her name.

The second the visions sharpened was the moment she lost her entire sense of space, time, and reality.

* * *

 _She pointed a small hand in the air, eyes wide in curiosity and confusion. "Who're the weird people with red all over?" she asked, stringing together words that she thought made sense to call the things she saw across the street. People walked through them without appearing to notice. No one spared a glance at the out of place figures. The red came from the stains on their torn clothes. Their clothes looked like the people her father called 'military' or something. The chains on their chest made her uncomfortable too. She didn't like them. The flying shadows were scarier though…_

" _What are you talking about now?" her father asked in irritation, his bearded chin unable to hide the downturn of his mouth. He didn't glance down to the child, having had it with her question asking for the day. Aracelis squeezed the hand of her mother for reassurance, whom she walked hand in hand with so she didn't get lost. Or, more likely, wander off after things that caught her interest. "Quit making up stories, Aracelis."_

 _She looked up to her mother for an answer. The dark-haired woman opened her mouth only to be spoken over, like usual._

" _I don't want to hear any of that spirit nonsense," her father cut in. "We don't believe in silly superstitious stories like that. Stop encouraging her."_

 _The subject was dropped immediately. She pouted at her valid question being ignored again, but knew she would be in trouble if she didn't quit talking. Father always had the last word, her mother going with whatever he said._

 _It didn't make the weird people go away. She still saw them milling about everywhere she went. She just learned to shut up about it. She learned to ignore them when they tried to speak at her, to act like they weren't there at all._

* * *

 _A thundering howl made her eyes shoot open. Even if her heart pounded and her small frame shook, she found herself sliding out of bed, her bare feet landing on the cold wooden floor. Despite not wanting to go outside to see what created the horrific screams, roars, and crashes, she kept walking ever so quietly through the house like she was in a trance. Her parents and siblings remained fast asleep as she struggled to open the heavy front door, its weight almost too much for a child._

 _The cold air of mid-winter smacked her in the face as she stepped out the door into the night. The street remained empty despite the horrible noises she could hear. The reek of something metallic hung in the air, choking her with the strong stench. Slowly she turned her head to the noises, eyes widened with the terror she already felt._

 _She saw giant shadow move into the light of the moon, hole through its stomach, and its white face-_

* * *

"Now, now. Interrupting my storytelling," a female voice chided. It took Aracelis awhile to place it as Clematis's. Everything remained black. She didn't hear any other sounds, still hopelessly confused and paralyzed by the strange experience of being thrown back into a life she didn't remember. One from centuries ago at that. She'd rather not continue with it. "How rude, but fine. I don't want her passing out just yet from your interference. Not when I have so much to show her. I'll get revenge for you, Licidae…"

Just as abruptly as they stopped, the memories restarted on a different scene.

* * *

 _She grew older, memories skipping scene to scene, running together in a blur of pain._

 _Numerous falls down stairs. Bones breaking. A vase falling from a widow onto her head. Dropping of dishes and tripping onto ceramic shards. Knives slipping, blood spilling. Nearly drowning after stumbling near a riverbank. Pneumonia. Fevers. Hit by a carriage. Crushed under the hooves of a scared horse. Vomiting blood. Passing out with no memory of what happened. Sleepwalking. Bruises a permanent fixture across her skin. Clumsiness always just short of killing her. Constantly sick or injured or both. Always a miracle she survived. Terrible, unrelenting bad luck was a fact of her existence. Something appeared to want her dead, her stubbornness the one thing in its way of ending her. Her life became one disaster after another to the point she was hardly let out of the house._

 _But, after that night, she didn't see spirits anymore._

* * *

 _She sat quietly, picking at a string on the sleeve of her dress, trying to block out what was going on. The priest's words became a garble as she desperately tried to ignore the wedding ceremony. For once, she wished they'd left her at home. If she dared glance up, she knew she would start bawling like a child all over again. She'd done enough of that the last week, alone in her room mourning for herself. She wouldn't ruin her older sister's wedding with her stupid emotions…_

 _Easier said than done._

 _The second she heard his voice a tear slipped down her face. She… She thought she loved him, and that… That he loved her too. So stupid… She really liked him, with how well-spoken he was and how he always knew what to say and how often he would come visit her, and so… So when he said he fancied her she believed him. Even after he said to keep it a secret from everyone else. She had stupid, childish delusions about marrying him and everything…. She should have known he was lying with how he never wanted to talk about a future together. When he told her that sleeping together would be okay because they'd be man and wife anyway, she believed him like the stupid idiot she was._

 _Right afterwards he started seeing her sister, Lorea, instead. Or maybe he'd been seeing her the entire time since she'd met him first. One of Lorea's friends had introduced the two. They were closer in age as well- Aracelis five years younger than him and certainly more naïve and immature than Lorea. She… She didn't really blame him, though. Not when her sister had long, pretty black hair like their mother, while she had dull dark brown hair chopped off at her shoulders because she'd gotten it caught in things too many times to count. Lorea had an average height, and not awkwardly tall like Aracelis too. Her sister's tanned skin not ashen with sickness, disgusting with yellow-green bruises, or covered in an assortment of scars either. Lorea seemed so much more perfect, while she was a walking disaster that couldn't do one damn thing without being a burden to everyone else. So, it made sense to choose anyone over her. That understanding didn't fix the heavy ache in her chest._

 _They seemed happy too, so Aracelis never said anything about what happened. She never would. He hadn't told anyone else, she believed, so at least she had that… And if she did tell, her father would be livid at what she'd done. It was entirely her fault, like always. Her father would scream at her, bring up every religious ruling she'd violated, and then just tell her no one would want her as a wife now. That she shouldn't say anything least his reputation be ruined further by her._

 _The ceremony continued, Aracelis fidgeting with her frayed sleeve, a few tears occasionally slipping from her eyes no matter how she tried to fight crying._

* * *

 _A few years later, the man that pretended not to know her –now her sister's husband and father of her children- introduced her family to a friend of his: Ramiro Alvarado Espina. She believed it was love at first sight. Charming, charismatic, and handsome, he swept Aracelis off of her feet. His sweet words of affection, the gifts of blossoming flowers and beautifully written notes, and the midday visits when she would have otherwise been alone. She loved him dearly, wishing he would marry her as soon as possible, but never saying a word out of seeming desperate and being rejected. She was already older than most of her sisters when they got married. As the youngest she already felt like she was behind, her siblings all gone from home with families of their own. He was a bit older than her, even, so she had hoped he would want to have a wife sooner than later._

 _It didn't take long for him to convince her into bed with him. She thought that maybe then he would be convinced to marry her, or it would at least keep him with her for a time until he decided to marry. Then maybe she'd be choice number one. He would often show up at the house when her parents were out, invite himself in, and the rest… Well, it only lasted few months._

 _Her father found out. He'd come home in the afternoon, for a reason she never quite found out, and he'd heard them. He'd barged into the room, yelled angrily for her to dress herself and not leave her room before dragging Ramiro out and slamming the door behind them. What words had been shared between the two remained a secret. She only got lectured for her indecency, how if she ended up pregnant out of wedlock it would be shameful to the whole family. Things she'd heard before. She ignored much of the speech to consider the fact that Ramiro wouldn't be coming back again._

 _But she was wrong. A few days later he showed up, proclaiming his love for her before he asked her to marry him. She accepted without hesitation. She felt elated and relieved and ecstatic. Everything she believed she wanted had suddenly been handed to her. She thought her luck had finally improved._

 _What a joke fate decided to play on her this time._

* * *

" _I… I just don't know what to do," she whispered, attention on the floor as she spoke. Her mother rubbed her back reassuringly, but it didn't ease her nerves. "He… He just really wants kids and…" She trailed off, biting her lip. They'd been married for over half a year. At first everything had been a dream, but then he started acting differently. He didn't tolerate her 'excuses' when she accidently broke something, he'd yell at her when she'd sleep all day because she didn't have the energy to move, he complained about how she never got any housework done, or how she didn't cook for him- even after seeing her trip with a knife, the blade almost buried in her ribs. And the thing that angered him the most…_

" _I'm… I'm not getting pregnant and…" It's not like they weren't intimate. That seemed about the only time he tolerated her, honestly. He'd have his fun, then turn away from her and ignore her the rest of the night. Or leave to do something else. Having a child, for him it seemed to be a priority. Even if she felt unsure herself, this is what her husband wanted. She was scared that he'd leave her if she didn't give him a child._

" _I don't…" Her eyes blurred with unshed tears. He hated crying, so she learned to at least try to hide it. Never worked very well for her. She tended to get emotional very quickly. Control was something she always lacked, whether her life or her own body. "I don't think I can." She'd been injured and sick so often from her bad luck, she wondered if that's why she couldn't conceive. She hoped not. If… If she proved wholly useless, he really would leave her. If he asked for a divorce he'd get it simply because he could talk his way in and out of most everything. It's not like the church liked her much either. Knocking a candle over, lighting a tapestry on fire, and nearly burning down the place didn't leave a good impression- she felt she had lost some hearing from her father's shouting over that event. The life she imaged having would be forever out of reach if he left. No one would want her then, not after being married, unable to have kids, or even preform the most basic of chores; he was right in saying that. She'd rot in her room, bored, alone, and a continued burden to her family if he left her._

" _It will be okay, Aracelis." Her mother's words of comfort felt empty. She couldn't see this working out. Not with her luck._

* * *

" _Why can't you do one damn thing right?" His jaw clenched as he paced back a forth, snapping at long last. She could see this building over the last two months… Her attention remained on the ground, eyes snapping closed as he yelled, "You're useless! You break every damn thing you touch! What's wrong with you?"_

" _I'm sorry," she whispered, unable to look away from her own feet. She nervously bit at her lip. 'Stay quiet now,' she told herself. Saying anything back would only make him more upset. Crying would only make it worse. It didn't matter if his words upset her, or that his raised voice scared her. Arguing, let alone yelling back, would make it worse. She honestly feared what 'worse' entailed. Apologize. Apologizing again and again was the only thing that sometimes placated his rage._

 _The traits she once adored blossomed into the reasons he drove her insane. That silver tongue able to spin anything to be her fault, that manipulated her into doing things with promises of rewards that were never received. His words of affection devoid of sincerity, the repeated lies bringing mistrust. His attention bringing forth more pain and loneliness than the happiness and companionship she craved._

" _You can't even have kids," he muttered in exasperation. "I should just leave you."_

" _N-no, you can't." She hesitantly glanced away from the ground. His glare sent her attention immediately back to the floor. "I thought… that you loved me? Y-you said so." Her words were shaky, barely audible. She wanted to scream at him, something in the back of her mind urging her to do so, but…_

" _I said that to get you to sleep with me."_

 _Her eyes shot upwards. "But-"_

" _I knew you would, because Ricardo told me you're an idiot for words." Lorea's husband… told him that they'd… and that's why… "The only thing you're good at is being a whore. Sleeping around with anyone that says they fancy you. You really thought I loved you?" he laughed._

" _But you married me!" she snapped, unable to keep the fake calm she'd worn for so long. All the bottled-up anger began coming out. "Why the hell would you lie and marry me then!?"_

 _He stepped closer, his height making her stumble back a step. Even when she felt enraged, he intimidated her. "I married you because your father said you were pregnant! He threatened me!" He grabbed the front of her dress roughly. "I figured I'd settle for you! Even after learning he lied! You should be thanking me for that!" He dropped her, pushing her so she stumbled a few steps back. "What a mistake that'd been! Ended up with a barren wife that can't even cook a damn meal! I got some whore that breaks every damn thing I own while sitting around all day! Using all my money! You're a useless waste of space!"_

" _Quiet, you drunk pig!" She was tired of it. He kept coming home reeking of alcohol every other night for the past month. Out with friends or… Or other women. Not only that, he didn't allow her access to any money to begin with- he was using it all. "You're drinking your own damn money away! Don't blame-"_

 _The stinging sound of a smack across the face seemed to echo in the suddenly silent room. As she stared forward, shocked that he hit her, he took a step forward, shoving her to the side. She stumbled to keep from falling over, but her foot caught the edge of a loose board. Her head smacked into the corner of a table. While her head pounded in pain she tried to pull herself off of the ground. Her head slammed back into the floor as she failed to get up, warm blood and tears beginning to run down her face. She heard the front door slam shut._

 _He'd left her to perhaps die without some much as a word._

 _Even then, as her eyes began to flutter shut to unconsciousness, she mumbled, "I'm sorry. Please don't leave me." He was still all she had… The only option she had, even if the prescribed dream of having a functioning family had been destroyed already by her clumsiness of all things._

 _Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought she heard a phantom cackling at her misery._

* * *

" _He… He left…" she muttered, voice empty. Her mother sat beside her, trying to say words of comfort, all of them hollow to her. "And threw me out…" She wanted to bite her lip. The pain of it being split open kept her from her nervous habit though. A parting gift when she refused to leave willingly. It'd been a few days already, the tears already having dried up, but even if she wanted to cry, her right eye was almost swollen completely closed. Her black eye was a reminder of their final fight- retribution for the scratch across his face when he split her lip. The first had only been six months ago, but it had escalated to a point that empty apologies and meaningless promises to do different could no longer prevent the downward plunge that was their relationship. Whatever happiness she felt from being away from that bastard felt dulled by the fact she had to return home, used and no longer wanted, as helpless as ever._

* * *

 _She sat in bed, the afternoon sun growing too warm, but her aching body in too much pain to eliminate the glaring light. Sick didn't even begin to describe how she felt the last month. Constantly nauseous, throwing up nearly every time she ate, losing consciousness when she stood, and coughing up an alarming amount of blood every so often, it was like her body was trying to shut down and kill her._

 _Not that she had anything else to do but lie in bed in misery._

 _Before she had fallen ill, she had tried to help her mother with her work. Her mother did laundry, sewed up holes in clothes, and occasionally helped a few of the older, widowed women around the neighborhood. Aracelis, being as clumsy as she was, quickly found herself banned from helping. She'd gone with her mother to a woman's house to pick up some laundry- she'd been going insane with boredom, sitting at home staring at the wall. A knocked over vase later, her mother was doing work for free to pay off the apparently valuable piece. No more helping for her, obviously. And forget sewing; she'd stabbed herself numerous times with needles, bleeding on whatever she tried to mend. Her siblings didn't want her around either… Not that she would blame them. Their kids would probably end up maimed if left with their disaster-wrought aunt._

 _Maybe he'd been right… The only thing she was good at was being a whore…_

 _She'd seen him, one day, as she took a walk around town despite being told to stay in her room least she hurt herself. He had another woman hanging off his arm, her stomach already round with a child, about to have it any day. Even if she figured he had been, it hurt to know that he had been disloyal while they were still technically married. Trying to confront him about that had just lead him to calling her jealous and paranoid followed by him shoving her out of the way to storm off. She had learned not to bring it up after a while. Seeing the two, it also confirmed that it had, in fact, been her fault she couldn't have children._

 _Damn her clumsiness and luck to hell. Damn her for being too useless to do anything about it._

* * *

 _Aracelis peeked around the corner of a doorframe curiously after hearing a knock a few moments ago. She'd been well enough to walk around for a week now; wondering around the house, however, had become dreadfully boring given her recovered health. Reading had long since lost its appeal seeing as they had only a few books. Her mother had been home to answer the door, and had answered right away. Alaia's eldest son, fourteen or something, stood at the door, appearing to have finished speaking about something quite serious given the expression on the boy's face. Her mother turned around, noticing her, beckoning her over._

" _Aracelis, Alaia is still not feeling well," she said, her voice soft as usual, her accent more obvious since father wasn't around to chastise her pronunciation. She nodded in response, understanding that her eldest sister had just had another kid a week ago, and likely needed help caring for all of her children if she was still in bed, sick. "I will be back later, dear. Will you be fine alone?"_

" _I'll be fine," she said, trying to hold back from snapping when her mother just genuinely cared if she'd be okay alone. Won't want her assistance there, either, considering how easily she got sick or injured. Forget handing her a newborn to watch. "Wait, what about cranky lady's dress? Didn't she want it by today?" The woman with the broken vase had her mother sew up a hole in some dumb fancy dress she that she wanted back today for a gathering her family was having in the next few days. Angering vase lady more would only extend the time wasted on paying off a debt. "I can ta-"_

" _Aracelis, stay here. It will be fine, so don't worry. I will bring it tomorrow morning, and everything will be fine." Her mother glanced out the door, past the fidgeting boy waiting for his grandmother to follow him back home -Alaia must be in rough shape to have him so twitchy. Dark gray clouds hung on the horizon, about to engulf the sun. "And it looks like it might storm, so I want you to stay safe here. You are more important than a dress."_

 _Aracelis reluctantly nodded her head if only to get her mother to leave to go help Alaia. Her mother gave her one last look that said, 'please listen,' before she turned back to the kid to take his hand to calm him down. Quickly enough Aracelis was left alone in the room, thinking dangerous things._

 _How much trouble could she get in walking a few streets over to deliver one dress? She could do that much without messing it all up, right? It was important, and she did cause the problem to begin with, so she should be the one to take care of it anyway. It was her responsibility. That made sense to her. And… and she wasn't that useless. She could accomplish one thing on her own, couldn't she?_

 _She gathered the dress, walking to the front door, ready to leave. When she saw the storm clouds had kept creeping ever closer, she grabbed her mother's forgotten umbrella to use for herself should it begin to rain._

 _Because she wasn't completely useless. She could help. She could handle_ _ **one**_ _task. Nothing bad could possibly happen in a few street's time._

 _Right?_

 _Something in the back of her mind happily urged her forward on her reckless quest to prove she wasn't a complete burden._

* * *

 _She carelessly ran down the street, chasing after the umbrella recently torn from her hand by a strong gust of wind. She wouldn't lose her mother's umbrella, not when she shouldn't have left the house in the first place. Even if she did somehow manage to deliver the dress without incident, her supposed proof of not being a burden counted on her arriving back home in perfect condition, nothing having gone wrong to prove she could do things on her own. Losing the umbrella, she wouldn't allow for it._

 _The storm, it could throw all it had at her, but she would be retrieving the damn umbrella if it was the last damn thing she did on this forsaken planet. As a cold downpour of raindrops began pelting her face, she held up her arm, focused on the umbrella teasingly blowing along the ground a few feet ahead of her. She barely took notice of the rolling thunder and the brilliant flashes of lightning above. She had her full attention on running after the mocking umbrella._

 _Death would be the only damn thing that could stop her in her strange quest now._

* * *

Tears trickled down her face as she stood completely still, mind overtaken by whatever memories Clematis decided to torment her with. From experience, he knew that the weed's abilities could warp her victim's sense of time; Aracelis likely felt she had relived years within a span of a few moments.

Ulquiorra watched fixedly, frozen with that despised indecision she caused him.

Aracelis, he wanted to go pry her from the disgusting creature's hold immediately, and interrupt whatever was causing her so much distress that she would cry- she hadn't even cried when he torn her apart in Segunda Etapa. Whatever memories Clematis replayed had to be truly awful to Aracelis. He… He wanted to save her, to comfort her in the knowledge that whatever past Clematis decided to dredge up wasn't her present. His chest ached at the sight of her brought to tears too. He hated the feeling, it resembling the pain he felt when he had presumably lost her. He hated that it was obviously empathy he felt in that moment since the pain was hers alone. And the anger towards the plant abomination grinning as she tormented Aracelis, it surely clouded his judgement for the worse. Rushing in to kill her and protect Aracelis based only on the flickering emotions running through him… Every irrational _feeling_ that desperately tried to urge him to recklessly help Aracelis at all costs, his rationality demanded him to ignore it.

The human girl stupidly standing there with a blank expression as she watched this all happen, it was his duty to keep her alive. While Clematis paid attention to replaying memories for Aracelis, he should be breaking through Orihime's barrier and tearing the girl away, leaving Aracelis at the mercy of Clematis instead. Aracelis, she should not be his concern. Not when he didn't have orders to keep her alive. He served Aizen. Not her. He couldn't escape that fact in light of something supposedly as trivial as tears. Rationally he should be fulfilling his orders without regard for the emotional pain his subordinate felt.

Aracelis's pain or Aizen's orders. Aracelis, his brain kept choosing her before correctly seeing that such a decision would be the end of the human, that such a failure would go against his orders and result in the punishment of who he wished to protect anyway. Each time he saw Aracelis's tear streaked face he started the cycle over again, wanting to go to her instead. He felt _conflicted_ which was not something he knew how to deal with properly, especially when all these ridiculous emotions got involved.

His indecision caused him to remain staring forward as the moments ticked by agonizingly slowly, fighting a mental battle with himself.

* * *

 **Was anyone expecting a delve into the past this chapter? I know a few have been curious, and, well, Clematis has her ability for the convenience of the author, that's for sure. I hope going though Aracelis's past helps give a better understanding of some of her behaviors- and conflicted with others, as she has lived as a hollow for a long time too. And, as all anime and fanfiction, I did give her that 'dramatic, traumatic' past. Not going to pretend otherwise. I just like the idea of hollows either being murders from the start or souls with a lot of tragedy in their lives. Or both. Clematis's aim was to inflict pain anyway, so showing happiness was beside the point.**

 **And Mirro, although not mentioned by name had been very present in the flashbacks. He took his name from his two favorite tormenters of Aracelis – since she wouldn't** _ **die**_ **like he wanted so he could leave her body- so he took parts of the names Ramiro Alvarado and Ricardo just so, if she ever found out, it would bother her. He was very involved in her human past, though, since he essentially got stuck in her body and kept trying to find a way out.**

 **And, well, I'm hoping its not really out there to have Aracelis from Spain, and her mother from elsewhere, which is where her darker skin tone comes from, and, well, her name is most certainly Spanish/Basque. And, I mean, the hollow names aren't all Japanese either, so if those were their original names, then they were from elsewhere too. IDK, hollows were a human soul at some point, but them actually remembering their names is debatable as well. And a mass in one body might just choose one that one of the souls remembers. She was born in the late 1700s and early 1800s, and died around age twenty-two-ish, the seventeen part in the second chapter being how long she'd had her 'bad luck.' If anyone really wanted a longer explanation of her human self's life, I would give one, but this is what is honestly important to the story (as she is a hollow first and foremost, much of her human past isn't relevant) and not just a bunch of factoids about an OC.**

 **Also Ulquiorra is having a emotional overload, doesn't know how to react with her crying- as that just shocks him-, feels like all control is gone with all the 'irrational' responses he's having, and is having a loyalty crisis at the same time. As someone clearly reluctant to change, this a bit much.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thanks to TfallingangelT, DesertMortician, Konekox16, Riliane Cross, and patamon642 for favorting and/or following!**

 **Guest 1** **st** **one- He's slowly giving up, making all his compromises to try and figure things out; love is inevitable, that's for sure. And Aracelis has always been his friend. One of the only reasons he was in Las Noches tolerating the Espada, aside from Aizen being too powerful to defy, was trying to find some form of company since he didn't have Aracelis then. He was trying to fill a gaping hole in his 'heart.' They're just getting annoying now that he had her back. Oh, Clematis. I'd say she is overly confident and is quite 'dumb' in her ridiculous goals, but she does also have a crazy, crazy plan. She didn't plan on losing Licidae, though, and she's not a happy camper because of it- Aracelis hadn't been her goal, tormenting her opportunistic revenge on Ulquiorra for Licidae. She's not done yet, seeing as she really came to bother Ulquiorra :) And thank you for the luck, I did fairly well on my tests and now have some free time again! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Guest 2** **nd** **one- I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! I hope this one was just as good :) Clematis vs Ulquiorra continues, although much more of a mental battle than physical. Let's be real, Clematis would be smeared on the ground by him in a physical fight, and she knows it. Thank you for reviewing!**


	34. Chapter 34- Memoria

Aracelis gasped suddenly, teeth then gritted together like she was keeping from shouting out in pain. To add to whatever emotional anguish the weed showed her, she repeatedly slammed Aracelis into the floor, stone shattering as her body impacted it again and again. Before he had the damn sense to pull his attention away from his own mental stupor and tear Aracelis away from Clematis while she was out from behind the human girl's barrier, the weed pulled her back, directly addressing a now unconscious Aracelis.

"Now, be a good boy and stay still, or I will be telling her the rest, Mr. Mirro. Understood?" She paused, waiting for a response from the parasite- Ulquiorra had a name to curse now. Clematis frowned at whatever response she perceived, her vines' grip tightening, thorns drawing blood. If Aracelis had a hierro, this wouldn't be a problem, but… She could be so fragile at times. "No? Well, then…" A vine burst through Aracelis's stomach, leaving a bloody hole that immediately began to mend by her regeneration. "I will punch you full of holes until you do understand!"

The moment Clematis decided to slam Aracelis's face back into the ground Ulquiorra used sonido. His hands tore apart a number of vines before Clematis could even flinch in pain, the open wounds spraying her muddy blood onto the ground. He wanted to pull at the vines, drag the disgusting creature out from being the safety of the barrier, but she still clung to her human shield desperately. He could already smell hints of the girl's blood mixed into the air, Clematis's thorns having dug in when he surprised her. He still had enough sense to see such actions as a poor decision.

Quickly he had Aracelis free from the vines, their thorns driven beneath her skin to such a degree he had to pull them off, gravity unable to dislodge them. For a second he just let her limp body fall against his. Her tear stained face, the warm blood escaping from cuts neglected by her regeneration as the hole in her stomach took priority, both soaked into his clothes in the short amount of time he held her. She had a broken arm dangling awkwardly at her side, her right shoulder heavily bruised. From her uneven breathing, he guessed she had a few shattered ribs as well. All of this because the parasite existed… Clematis had been targeting this Mirro, and, like Ulquiorra had, she chose to beat the parasite into submission and distract him with pain. She was intent on not allowing MIrro to interfere with her apparent crusade.

The moment Clematis regained enough sense to attack, she returned her attention to his weakened Aracelis. Wanting to separate her from the battle even briefly, he tossed Aracelis to the other side of the room -specifically onto the couch to soften her landing. She would at least have a chance to recover this way. Maybe then, if he protected them both, this Mirro wouldn't decide he needed to appear for the sake of self-preservation. He had enough distractions.

He felt Clematis's vines tighten around his waist as his gaze lingered on Aracelis. Slowly he turned to face the enraged weed. The plant's infuriatingly cheerful tone and malicious grin had been lost the moment her ally lay dead. Only a cold rage remained. She held Orihime closer to her, a vine now covering the girl's mouth, apparently not wishing to hear Orihime's complaintive screams any longer. He was almost grateful for that, as the human's screeching only served to annoy him more than he already was given the situation. Had Aracelis been awake, he was sure she would have found Orihime's attempts to bite Clematis's vine to free herself hilarious.

"You killed Licidae," Clematis hissed once more, her grip on him tightening to tear into the fabric of his clothes. The thorns scraped over his skin to no effect. He severely under guessed her attachment to the other hollow. He would have killed all of her allies had he known. Forget merely distracting her; it would break her if it hadn't already. Like he thought, the plant teetered on the brink of insanity like any hollow. One act had snapped her falsified reality where she was in control. It would be simple to crush her now, with Aracelis in relative safety and Clematis's grip over her emotions gone. She would be punished for harming Aracelis. "I'll make you pay, I swear! I will take everything from you!"

His vision immediately went black. This… this was a deviation from his original experience with her ability. Before it took time, vision blurring before being replaced, the memories she searched through visible to him and not this black nothingness. Admittedly, he hadn't considered her ability to have been this improved by the Hogyoku. Not to the point his perceptions would be so warped that he had absolutely no sense of his surroundings- he had believed Aracelis had just been caught off guard with it being the first time she experienced the weed's ability.

"I didn't come here for her to begin with," Clematis's voice echoed in the nothingness clouding his mind.

He searched for anything to give him a hint of his actual surroundings. Nothing. He couldn't tell if he could move his body. Even searching for Aracelis's spiritual pressure or the distortion around her failed to work. This sensory deprivation, it didn't affect Clematis or Orihime, so it had to be localized. If he could separate himself from the vines around him he could escape it long enough to decapitate the weed.

"I had wanted to show you something," Clematis continued. "Originally it'd been a warning, but now… Now it's a threat. You and Mirro, the one thing that you both fear losing, I'm going to take her away by whatever means I have. I'll make you suffer as much as I can!"

With memories? Memories were just that: memories. The past, it no longer mattered as there was no changing it. Dwelling on it to any degree was foolish- even if he did occasionally find himself considering it, the past remained, in essence, pointless. She couldn't begin to hope to-

"I know I can't physically hurt you even like this," she snapped, cutting off his thoughts in a clear show that she could hear them while using her ability like this. Earlier, she had been directly speaking with Mirro, not making threats for him to overhear. If she were physically stronger, if her ability didn't rely on fleeting distress alone, she would be a terrifying opponent for the humans and soul reapers. Being absorbed by Aaroniero should have been her fate… "But you're so emotionally screwed up as it is that I don't even need to do much else then show you. You'll end up making yourself go crazy with your own thoughts!"

She had enough talk for once, the blackness beginning to be replaced by a stream of fuzzy images. Even when the visions reached their presumed peak, the images seemed distorted, more distant than the previous memories she had drawn out. Perhaps older, faded with time, decaying without being recalled. Specifics like exact place, time, and names were lost in time.

Yet the emotions associated within the memories, those remained perfectly intact.

* * *

 _Weak. Pathetic. Cowardly._

 _He hid. Instead of running away like his mother told him, he ended up hiding behind the house, petrified with fear, heart pounding out of his chest. Too scared to run off into the night alone, but too scared to go try to protect his family -even if he couldn't do much to fight off grown men, he should at least have tried. His back rested against a tree while he sat curled up with his arms around his knees, his eyes staring vacantly forward as he listened to the distant chatter of unfamiliar men brandishing weapons._

 _Outlaws, bandits, whatever you want to call them, they had come in the night, deciding to raze the small village for all it was worth- and that wasn't much. Senseless violence, in the end. He'd frozen up when he heard his father yell from inside. When he never heard him again, he assumed that they'd killed him. He could hear his mother pleading with them… She had stayed with father, knowing she couldn't outrun anyone with how pregnant she was. His parents, they had kept saying any day now and he'd be a big brother. That he would be responsible for protecting his sibling._

 _When he heard his mother scream in pain the rest of his world came crashing down. Everything he knew had been torn away from him in an instant._

 _And all he could do was hide like a coward._

* * *

 _The next few years he spent alone, struggling to even survive. Nobody needed another mouth to feed. Especially not someone like him. Most of the time he was starving. He'd grown used to everything feeling numb and cold, his body not able to function well given malnutrition. He was pale to begin with, but being ill only worsened it. No one had use for a weak kid that couldn't do manual labor, so he was on his own. He was no better than a wild animal._

 _He couldn't even call how he lived scraping by. What money he could get hold off came from begging, and he was exceedingly bad at that considering he didn't hold an ounce of charm. Sometimes people would give him food for doing menial tasks. Usually he had to find food for himself. When he had the energy, he could also be quite skilled at sneaking off with food from unwatched houses._

 _He hated himself for it. Stealing like a common thief. Begging for table scraps. Living like this, it was a dishonor to his parents. They gave up their lives so he could live, and_ _ **this**_ _is how he repaid their sacrifice: living in the streets like a stray dog. If they hadn't sacrificed themselves for his sake… He would have given up already._

 _Anything… Anything was better than this hell._

* * *

 _He'd been woken from a dead sleep by being dragged back into the cold. The shouting, he didn't understand the words, brain still muddled. He already understood that he'd passed out in a chicken hutch after being covered in snow, tattered clothes soaked through. He remembered only that. He was still shivering and confused._

 _His face met the snow again as the man dropped him, still yelling about him trespassing or something. He had no response to give even if he thought he could speak. At this point he couldn't feel his hands at all, walking out of the question as well. Without his consent his eyes kept trying to close to return to sleep. He actually wanted to crawl back into the cramped space he'd been…_

 _Even if he thought he'd just blinked, the next time he opened his eyes he found himself staring at a ceiling, now inside a small hut. And warm. Being warm felt indescribable after wandering around in the snow as the wind cut through his thin frame. He had no idea where he had ended up in all honesty. A small farm, perhaps, considering he had not been near a village to his knowledge. As well as remembering something about chickens… He had been in a stupor, not remembering how he made it here other than he went to first warm place he saw. No wonder he had been caught, leaving a clear line of footprints in the snow, not thinking about being found._

 _He turned his head to the side, searching for why he had been allowed to stay when the man that had found him had obviously been upset by his presence. An older woman, her hair graying and her face wrinkled, sat on the other side of the room, her attention on cooking something. She smiled when she noticed him watching._

" _I was afraid you wouldn't wake up. You were half frozen to death with your clothes absolutely soaked." Concern. Something he hadn't heard directed at him in a long time. She stood up, slowly walking to him, a noticeable limp in her step. "Please forgive my husband; he's not always good with guests."_

 _He said nothing. He just stared as she knelt down once more, now much too close._

" _How do you feel?" She waited for a response patiently, even after his silence reached the point of being rude. "In a few moments the tea will be done," she added, her tone still happy. It confused him. He had intruded on their home, yet she called him a guest and treated him as such. "It will help you warm up the rest of the way."_

 _He didn't understand… Why act so friendly? It's not like he had anything to offer…_

" _What were you doing all by yourself, walking around in so much snow? A young boy like yourself should be at home with his family."_

 _He glanced away at the mention of a home and family. It'd been a question with an obvious answer. If he had either he wouldn't be in this old woman's house after almost freezing to death. And, if that wasn't proof enough of his situation, the tattered, ill-fitting rags he called clothes clinging to his emaciated body should have led her to that conclusion as well._

 _When he gave a sideways glance back at the old woman, she nodded her head solemnly. "You can stay as long as you'd like, no matter how much my husband complains. I can't just send a child back into the cold."_

 _He didn't even know how to respond to kindness anymore. Instead he gave the slightest nod to show he understood before training his attention elsewhere, unable to meet the old woman's gaze. Part of him believed that she'd change her mind and throw him out once she saw he had no redeeming qualities._

 _The other thought was that he'd simply died already and this was a grand illusion._

* * *

 _He did stay. The old couple, they didn't throw him back that winter. Or even the next. Instead he adjusted to having consistent meals, a place to sleep at night under roof, and… And not being alone. The old man and him, they held a mutual dislike of each other, but they had an understanding. The old man, like his wife, age had begun to catch up with him. Their own children lived a village over- all girls, the old woman told him in one of the many stories she shared with him. The old man, he had also been in a battle, his back injured in some sort of fall. That meant when the old man needed help moving or carrying something, he was called upon. Apparently having food made it easier to do labor of any sorts. When the old man didn't need anything, he helped the old woman with household chores- she did not tolerate for dust to even think of gathering, so cleaning kept him busy. He wanted to be helpful, even when he began to think the old woman wouldn't throw him out no matter what he did._

 _Also learned during the old man's youthful days spent in conflict, he had been a cartographer. Occasionally, if the man felt in a good mood, he showed him how he made maps by drawing on cheap paper with charred pieces of wood. Eventually the old man also admitted that he had once wanted to be an artist traveling the countryside and drawing landscapes if he had the funds. He taught him how to draw pictures as well, then. A few times the old man had even given his praise for how well he did drawing from memory alone._

 _The old woman, she praised just about anything he did. He… he felt close to her. She partially filled in the void left when he lost his mother. The old woman, she treated him kindly, making sure he felt at home like he was her own child. Many times, she'd tell him she wouldn't mind being called grandmother. He was considering it now that he saw they would let him remain..._

 _He liked it there. He wanted to stay as long as he could, if not forever._

 _But forever… Forever didn't exist. Not for him._

* * *

 _Blood ran down his arms, the man falling to the floor as he reached for his neck, trying in vain to stop the blood spilling out. His comrades watched in a mix of anger and bemusement at the sight of a young teenager slicing open the neck of a man that had previously towered over him._

 _He dropped his arm back to his side, grip on the knife a death hold. He'd already failed. It didn't matter that he acted. He'd hesitated. Again. He'd acted as a coward and now… And now the old couple lay dead in a pool of their own blood. They didn't even have anything worth taking… They'd just been on the unfortunate path of ruffians looking for trouble wherever they could find it. The same damn scenario, yet he'd failed once more to do anything to protect them! He'd failed. Failed. Failed!_

 _A man stepped forward, makeshift weapon of a farming sickle in his hand. "Idiot couldn't even kill a kid!" he laughed, kicking the dead body of his former ally out of the way. "Guess it's my turn to show this kid how real men fight!"_

 _Before he made it another step, a hand rested on his shoulder. The man behind him stepped forward instead. He wore a flawless chest plate that hinted he did not often see battle himself. At his side he had a sheathed katana, like he was pretending to be a samurai instead of a common bandit. Even his clothes spoke that he held himself at a higher level than the other men. He had to be their leader. "I don't know, kid seems fairly talented to me, taking out an adult with one precise cut, but maybe_ _ **you're**_ _right. Should we see if he can do it again?"_

" _N-no, boss." The other man stepped back like a beaten animal, his comrades all beginning to chuckle at the spectacle. Disgusting._

" _Kid," the leader said once his band of laughing marauders had the sense to shut up. "What do you say about joining us? I'm always looking for talented recruits."_

 _He stared at the floor blankly. Accept or die. Obviously that was the offer in front of him. Even if the bandits miraculously decided not to kill him, he would be alone once more, fending for himself without a coin to his name. If… if he joined then at least he might stay alive, if only briefly. He couldn't just give up- he had vowed to his parents' memory their sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. He wouldn't just give up and die. Joining them, it would either prolong his life or cause his inevitable death. That was a better option than wasting away again. And he would have a purpose above the animalistic search for food and shelter._

 _He despised them all for their actions, but that might be the biggest advantage of joining them. Being attached to people, seeing them die in front of him again and again because he was too weak to do anything, that brought only pain. The bandits, he didn't care if what happened to them. He never would. He loathed everything about them. If his mere presence did somehow inexplicably cause death, then the bandits would be subject to his apparent curse. Perhaps he could claim this as punishment for himself, for not being able to protect anything._

 _These men, they obviously had control over others. The held power, especially the leader. Control of his life, it was something he never had. Being strong, it was something he never was. He… he could perhaps use this as an opportunity to gain the control and power he sought._

 _The slightest nod was his answer of acceptance. This would be his fate. Humanity had gained him only pain, so he would become a monster. Until his inevitable death, he would at least have the comfort of the material. Intangible things like the fleeting feeling of happiness, they didn't last, so why put the effort into caring about them anymore?_

 _This… this was the most rational decision._

* * *

 _He sat in his preferred corner, a piece of heavy, expensive paper and quality ink on the table in front of him. His cup of tea had long since grown cold as he had shoved it to the side in preference for his materials._

 _He had taken to the lifestyle he was presented with four years ago. His leader, the man had managed to claw his way from petty thievery and robbery to controlling an entire village through extortion and threats. A nice village at that. Out of the way, yet still a crossroads for travelers and a few merchants. They could hide from most authority while still able to have a constant flow of profit._

 _And he became what was comparable to an officer amongst his boss's ranks. An enforcer of his leader's will, he was the face of disciplinary actions, punishing any member who defied orders. He didn't mind killing them. He had grown used to death being a fact of life, and controlling it gave him a twisted sense of enjoyment. His rank, it also gained him all the material goods he desired. The basic necessities of housing, clothes, and food, they were all his. Trivialities like paper, ink, and brushes, those were his as well. Anything. He could eventually have anything if he truly wished for it. While he did not require much, the knowledge he could obtain any possessions he needed, he felt he should relish in it. He had control over his life. He thought he should be content with it._

 _Instead he felt as empty and numb as before._

 _A bump to the table brought him from his thoughts. He watched as tea spilled across the paper, lifting away the still wet ink on the page. He watched as the black bled into the tea, becoming a gray-brown stain across the entire page. The last few hours of work disappeared like it had never existed._

" _I-I'm so sorry, I didn't…" A pair of hands clumsily scrambled to set the cup back upright. The young woman looked over the paper with a mix of fear and remorse. "You'd work so hard on it..." Even if he did frequent the small tea shop, he never did speak besides ordering. Her parents owned it, while she acted as a server. He often caught her watching him work. She had stubbornly attempted to start conversations with him before as well- she was one of the few not too afraid to talk to him._

 _The room hung in silence as the few patrons and the girl's father waited for the terrifyingly quiet outlaw to snap with rage- it was what the others did at the slightest inconvenience, so they expected the same from him. In all honestly, he found it hilarious. Not their obvious reaction, but the tea spilled across the table. As he stared at his labor becoming a muddled, unrecognizable mess, he found it was a perfectly convoluted metaphor for life. No matter how hard one worked to achieve something, it would always mean nothing in the inevitable end. Living itself almost seemed a mistake to him seeing as how death and time would erase away any effort._

 _He took solace in knowing he meant nothing. That whatever heinous crime he committed would mean nothing. That whoever he killed meant nothing. It's how he justified becoming what he hated: pretending nothing mattered._

 _Without a word he stood up, leaving behind his ruined drawing. He didn't care about it anyway._

 _He didn't care about anything. Not anymore._

* * *

 _Like clockwork, he returned a few days later. It was one of the few escapes from his 'allies' he had after all. The owner of the shop incessantly apologized for his daughter's actions- he told the man to be quiet when ignoring him didn't get his point across. Eventually, after working away on a new project, he saw a tray set down in front of him. Then the silly woman sat down across from him, apparently insisting on apologizing for her actions as well._

" _This if for you," she said when he refused to acknowledge her. She pushed the tray of sweets forward a bit, careful to not disturb his supplies. "I know you like them. I've seen you eat about twenty of them in one sitting- don't think that no one saw that."_

" _You have a strange manner of apologizing."_

" _You told my father to be quiet, so I figured you'd have done the same to me. You found it annoying. Bothering someone would be a strange way to apologize." She sighed when he didn't respond. "I am sorry, though. I know how long you've been working on that one." She leaned to the side, trying to gain a better look at his current work. "You aren't going to remake it?" she asked, recognizing it as another place despite it being another forest scene. She paid more attention to what he was doing than he thought. His fellow 'allies' that caught glimpses of his 'silly' drawings thought they all appeared the same. Their pestering was one reason he had to find somewhere else to work… "Can I watch?"_

 _He ignored her, but didn't tell her to leave him alone. Her presence was inconsequential, he decided. She stayed relatively quiet, asking only a few 'yes or no' questions in hopes he would answer simple inquiries. Sometimes he did give a slight nod or shake of his head. The only time she left was to fetch him another cup of tea, and another tray sweets. He didn't understand why she would waste her time on him._

* * *

 _And, somehow, this became customary. She would watch him for hours. Eventually, though, she did gain responses from him. It'd begun as him simply answering where he had seen what he was drawing. Then he began answering questions about himself. After a while, even when he wasn't settled down in his corner, he would meet with her and talk._

 _Gradually, he decided he enjoyed her presence. She understood him- better than he believed he understood himself. She observed the smallest of mannerisms in him. She would somehow see when he was bothered by things. Despite never answering things as fact or falsity, she was quite accurate with her assumptions of his character. Insightful and observant and kind… He hadn't felt warmth in his chest in a long time. Happiness, he had nearly forgotten the emotion in the often-self-inflicted misery he sentenced himself to. The part of himself he had so desperately tried to carve away, she numbed the pain and, perhaps someday, would help it heal. She began to fill the void he felt._

 _She did cause him to realize he absolutely despised his life, though. Asking why he stayed with the bandits when he was intelligent and had such an amazing skill. Asking if he enjoyed what he did, if that's why he stayed. Asking if he would like to do something else, or if he had a dream. Asking if he wanted to live like this until he died, or if he wanted to settle down somewhere. Asking if he had ever considered finding a wife. Asking if he wanted a family._

 _Telling him he could change if he wanted to._

* * *

 _He held her hands in his, a bit of hope for the future trying to form in his heart. He planned to leave the village with her once they had enough money. They'd go far away from here. He wanted to change. He wanted to start over again with her at his side. Perhaps… perhaps then they could live happily together. Maybe even have a family once they settled in. The idea had scared him at first, but he trusted her when she said he'd be a good father. He trusted her intuition above his own chaotic thoughts of worst case scenarios. Her optimism, he needed it to remind him the world wasn't completely rotten._

 _After leaning down to give her a kiss on the forehead, he said once more, "I want to change. Once we have enough to leave, we can start a new life somewhere else."_

" _I'm proud of you," she whispered once more, smiling softly. "I know how scary this must be for you, but I'll be there for you. I always will be."_

* * *

 _He stood frozen in place, the world around him seeming to disappear as he stared at what lay at his feet. He didn't understand. He couldn't. It'd only been a few hours since he left, yet… Yet now… The small speck of hope he held… His everything… His entire reason for continuing forward lay dead on the ground in a pool of her own blood. He dropped to his knees before pulling her into his arms. Cold. She'd been gone so long that her warmth had already faded away. His heart felt as cold as her skin, the numbness already trying to creep back to cover the immense aching pain in his chest._

" _Who did this?" he asked, his voice lifeless._

" _One of you bastards!" Her father screamed at him. "They came here looking for money! They thought she had it instead of you!" The only thing preventing him from lashing out was his wife as she held onto his arm. She had always been more accepting of their relationship, but now… Now underneath the misery of losing her daughter, he could see the anger. He deserved their hate._

 _This… This was his fault. He shouldn't have gotten close to her. He shouldn't have gotten her involved. She died because of him. This wonderful, kind woman had died because he allowed her to foolishly get close to him. He should have known better. She had been too kind and fragile to be in his world. All because of his selfish desire of not wishing to be alone, she had died for it. She deserved far better than this. She deserved so much more than to die for her association with something like him._

 _Slowly he set her back down, gently brushing the hair off of her face before giving her one final kiss on the forehead. He whispered a worthless apology to her._

 _He would make them pay for what they had done. All of them._

* * *

 _Soon after walking into their base of operations- a filthy establishment soaked in alcohol- he had his sword caked in the blood of two unexpecting members. The rest stared at him stupidly for moment before one claimed 'the kid finally lost it,' like_ _ **he**_ _had been the unstable one. No, he was the rational one while these creatures thrived in meaningless violence. Some tried to fight him. They joined the body count, easily outmatched. They always seemed to forget that he had been trained by their leader in swordsmanship- he still wore the scars as proof of the man's harsh training. Once he found the boss, he would make him regret teaching him._

 _There came a point when a few turned on each other, screaming out who had killed her, pushing them forward before attempting to flee from their terrifyingly quiet former ally. He said nothing to the two as they quivered in fear. The first opened his mouth to perhaps beg for his life judging the horrendous expression on his face, but his neck was sliced open before he could say a word. The other tried to run. He ended up on the ground, being stabbed through the neck._

 _But he wasn't finished. No, he followed after the ones that had fled, knowing the boss had likely been ushered away when the commotion in the front of the building began. He followed the trail of footprints in the fresh mud, cold rain still pouring down._

* * *

 _He'd killed several more after catching up to the group as they crossed an open field on the outskirts of the village. He had his former leader cornered. The man watched him as he walked forward, but never drew his weapon. As arrogant as ever, standing like he was god watching an ant rise up to face him. Killing him, it would put an end to this mistake. It could never atone for her death, but at least then they would be wiped from this world as well. They didn't deserve to live a moment longer._

 _He stumbled, coming to a stop. Following a weak cough he felt blood running down his chin. In disbelief, he glanced down to see silver metal stabbed through his chest. Behind him he heard the rough laughter of one of the men he thought had been dead. The man let go of the blade. He quickly fell backwards, further impaling himself on the sword. The searing pain, it was numbed by the cold rain washing over him in sheets. His entire body, he couldn't feel anything. He stared at the gray sky overhead, unable to move. The dampness across his face, it was the only warmth he felt. He had begun crying like a child when faced with death._

 _The two came closer, knowing he was no longer a threat when his grip on his katana failed him. The one that had stabbed him held his hand over a deep wound that would eventually kill him. His leader looked down his nose at him, unscathed._

" _What a shame. You'd been such a loyal solider." His boss shook his head in mock disappointment. "I think we will need to leave you here as an example of what happens when you defy me."_

 _And like that, he found himself alone, slowly bleeding out. Had the sword been removed, it would have been a quick death, the blade buried in part of his heart, but the bastard had known that. He'd wanted him to suffer for as long as possible. His senses one by one began to fail. As he watched the rain fall, he vowed again and again that he would kill them. No matter what, he would kill them. Even in death, he would find a way to destroy them for taking her away. For destroying the rest of his already broken heart. He would not leave this world until he slashed them apart._

 _As his vision faded away, the hatred in his vengeful vow remained._

* * *

 _He dug his fingers into his chest again, clawing at the flesh even as blood continued to pour out. He couldn't feel pain as he carved open his own chest in a desperate attempt to free himself from the chain binding him to the spot of his death. He felt only numbness. Had he felt pain, he wouldn't have stopped anyway._

 _This was the only way._

 _He had been pulling at the chain, trying to dislodge it for some time now. He had watched as his physical body rotted, as his bones were picked clean by scavengers. Even then his presumed spirit had remained bound to this place._

 _But he would kill them. He would carve the chain out of his chest to free himself. Then he would take revenge for her. He wouldn't just die without claiming their pathetic lives as retribution._

 _He continued scraping away his skin, determined that his last act would be tearing them apart in the most painful way he could imagine._

* * *

"There's a reason you look like a demon." Clematis's voice echoed as blurred images of souls being devoured flashed by. "You've always been a monster. Aracelis, you think you can help her, but I guarantee you get her killed. You could have all the power in the world, but a monster doesn't get a happy ending. Monsters are killed or end up all alone in isolation."

"That human isn't me," he quickly disagreed. He refused to accept that that had been him. He was a hollow. A powerful hollow. Not a human. Not _that_ weak human.

"It was. Maybe he's not you now, but you are the result of that pathetic human. Don't pretend you don't already see the similarities. The past, you can't ignore it like it doesn't exist. You'll make the same exact mistakes again and again if you pretend it holds absolutely no meaning."

She was in no mood for further conversation with him. The memories returned to forefront of his mind as she repeated the memory of the human becoming a hollow like she was trying to get her point across.

* * *

Orihime had no idea what the plant hollow had done to Aracelis, but she saw that Clematis was doing the same with Ulquiorra. She couldn't have both of her supposed protectors unconscious. Especially when Clematis appeared to have forgone the 'I won't hurt you unless I have to' promise. The child hollow that Ulquiorra brutally killed earlier… They had been Clematis's friend and now she was very upset. Orihime might have tried to save the hollow if Clematis let her go. Now, with how the hollow had faded away into reishi, she wasn't sure if her ability would work given she hadn't had much practice bringing back things that were completely destroyed. She wished she had practiced it more, even if she did train as much as she could in the time she had had.

Orihime knew she had to free herself first before she could help anyone. The cuts on her stomach stung where the thorns had dug in earlier too… And she had a few on her face from when the hollow covered her mouth to get her to be quiet. She didn't want to find out what might happen if Clematis became the victor of this strange hollow grudge match. Or if Ulquiorra broke free and decided his orders to protect her were secondary to killing Clematis- Orihime knew she was complicating matters. Orihime would rather no one else be killed still, honestly.

But Clematis's grip had loosened! She got distracted with whatever she was doing to Ulquiorra, and if she kept her attention on him, Orihime believed she could get an arm free! Then she could help somehow! She hoped. She didn't really know how to stop Clematis since she had no idea what she was doing to them, but she needed to try at least. Making a hollow cry must mean she was doing something awful. And, well, Aracelis was loosely her friend, and to help her, Orihime needed to help Ulquiorra -even if he was positively awful and cruel.

She felt Clematis shift again, stirring her from her panicky runaway train of thoughts. After psyching herself up for a moment, she carefully and slowly began moving her arm, every twitch of Clematis's vines making sweat drop from her forehead. Fighting back a sigh of relief became necessary when she somehow managed to slip her arm out without the hollow noticing.

Now for a plan to help…

Clematis was right, using Tsubaki wouldn't work given that multiple vines were wrapped around Ulquiorra. If she cut one off, or even a few, then Clematis would surely notice and turn her anger towards Tsubaki and her. She didn't know if she could fix Tsubaki on her own yet. But what else could she do while still tied up in a mass of thorns? What to do…

Maybe, if she just lightly touched the vines Clematis had around Ulquiorra, she could see what was going on. She noticed that Clematis held her with a different bunch of vines than she had used on Aracelis, and now Ulquiorra too. If she knew what was happening, then she could make a better plan on how to help. And, since Clematis didn't feel her move her arm, then maybe she wouldn't know if she brushed her hand on one of the vines….

At a snail's pace she shifted to lean to the side, hand reaching for the nearest vine. She hesitated as she glanced behind her to see Clematis. Her narrowed lime eyes remained forward, no obvious signs that she noticed Orihime's movement. Pressing her lips together she looked back to her hand, fingers hovering nervously over the green, thorn covered vine doing who-knows-what.

The second her fingertip brushed the vine her vision flickered, the room replaced with another scene entirely.

 _Although she recognized the hands and chest as someone else's, she could feel their pain. Not physically, as her body felt as numb and cold as the other person apparently felt, but all the emotional suffering hit her in a storm. She immediately wanted to cry at the desperation he felt as he carved away at the soul chain binding him to an empty field, the only things there him and a torn apart corpse with a sword sticking out of its chest. His corpse. He had died violently. Painfully._

 _The sadness was suffocating and oppressive, like drowning in an intangible, freezing cold ocean that made her want to shiver. He wanted revenge for a woman that never left his mind for a second, him jumping from the memory of her smiling warmly at him to her lips stained with blood and skin paled with death. The burning hatred for her killers, it was nothing compared to the inferno of loathing he aimed at himself. The guilt and resentment, it was unbearably sad to Orihime as she experienced it with him. His heart, it had been shattered into a million pieces, and he had no one to console him. He was alone- and he imparted the impression he had been alone much of his life._

 _Eventually, after digging into his chest and pulling at the chain for so long, it dislodged. As he turned into a hollow she continued to feel his heart crumble away under the pain._

"Now, now, human. When did I say you could interrupt my fun?" Clematis's voice echoed around in her head as the vision faded to pitch black.

The sudden bright white of the room made her blink rapidly to adjust to reality again. Orihime quickly noticed her feet were off the ground, Clematis having pulled her away to forcibly eject her from whatever it was she had just seen. That… That hadn't been Ulquiorra's memories, right? How tragic, if that's what she'd seen.

"I honestly forgot about you," Clematis hummed, shaking Orihime wildly back and forth to the point Orihime almost felt dizzy. Forget thinking about anything while being jerked every direction like a doll. "Let's see… What can I do with you so I can get away… Ah-ha!" The shaking came to an abrupt end, Orihime feeling like vomiting might have become inevitable with a few more seconds of that. Hearing the plant hollow had a plan, however, dimmed the small relief she felt. Clematis's face regained a crooked grin as she gently set Orihime's feet back on the stone floor. "Go get Aracelis for me."

"Wha-what?" Orihime shifted her attention from Clematis to Aracelis, who still laid face down on the couch on the opposite side of the room. She hadn't moved at all since being thrown over there. "Why?"

"I just need to borrow her for a moment." Orihime's stomach lurched as Clematis whipped her around again so she could see Ulquiorra. "I can't quite reach her, and I am certainly not letting him go. So go get her for me, okay?"

"Um…" Orihime would love to be let go. If she pretended to go get Aracelis, then she could bolt to the door! Clematis said she couldn't reach all the way over there. She would be able to escape! She could find someone to help them. She nodded her head with faked hesitance. Clematis unwrapped the vines still around her, using one to shoo her off in the appropriate direction. Standing on her own was more painful than she thought it would be, the gashes on her side aching and numerous bruises seeming to pulsate uncomfortably with every twitch, but adrenaline would keep her going for a while. It had to. With shaky steps, she moved away from Clematis.

After only a few steps, her hope of escaping withered away as violet light filled the room once more. She glanced over her shoulder to confirm that Clematis had charged two ceros, both aimed for her. Even if she used Santen Kesshun, the first blast would break it down, the second hitting her.

Clematis smiled when she caught Orihime's expression of hope turning to despair. "I don't know why you all appear to consider me so dumb… I mean, I am still alive after tormenting a wild animal, oh, excuse me, an Espada. I mean, I quite literally know everything he does too." Her face lost the humor in a flash as she ordered, "Don't dawdle. I still don't plan on dying today. Watching this disaster is the only revenge I can obtain."

Orihime faced forward again, picking up her pace now that her simple plan had already been thwarted. Once she stood in front of Aracelis she could see the wound on her stomach had closed by itself. Her arm, it didn't look snapped anymore either. She hadn't expected her to heal so quickly. Grimmjow's wounds hadn't, so she guessed hollows had different skills, Aracelis's being that she had no trace of spiritual pressure and the ability regeneration. Even then, it had to hurt to be slammed into the ground so many times, and then stabbed through the stomach… "You're… You're not going to hurt her more, right?"

"Aren't you a sweet girl," Clematis muttered, glancing off to the side. "Keep that up and I'll really regret being so mean to you, human." She sighed before continuing, "No, I just want to share some information. I don't need her awake, I just need to be able to touch her. Then I'll be on my way to hide from Mr. Repressed over here."

Orihime pressed her lips together, wary of trusting the hollow's words given her earlier promise had been broken. She would cooperate, hoping that this truly would put an end to this strange battle before more people got hurt. She leaned over, wincing. After getting her hands under Aracelis's arms she tried to lift her up, finding out Aracelis weighed a lot more than she thought. Of course, now that she thought about it, Aracelis was taller than her, and definitely more muscular. She struggled to pull Aracelis off the couch while not dropping her limp body to the floor in process. Or falling over herself. Orihime bit her lip as she tried to concentrate on dragging Aracelis, unable to properly lift her, rather than the pain flaring in her sides from the cuts and bruises. She also tried to ignore all the blood still smeared on the ground in a macabre display of hollow nature.

As soon as she was close enough, Clematis pulled Aracelis out of Orihime's hold, surprising Orihime into falling on her backside. Clematis shook Aracelis a few times like she was trying to wake her up. No response. She frowned again before slamming Aracelis's right shoulder into the floor, Orihime shouting "Stop!". Clematis glanced at her, rolling her eyes before repeating her action again in complete disregard for her earlier statement.

"Bitch," she heard Aracelis's voice hiss, although with more venom than she'd heard her use before. It caught her off guard, making her want to lean forward so she didn't miss any of the conversation, already feeling like something was wrong. "What the hell do you want now? You've pissed me off enough already!"

"Mirro, I have an interesting bit of information." She glanced to Ulquiorra, still stuck in whatever other memories Clematis decided to repeat for him. If they were all like the one she saw earlier, she felt sorry for him. The mix of emotions she felt just during that brief memory, they stemmed from a loss of someone important to him. She wouldn't want to have to relive Sora's death again and again… Aracelis stopped squirming to listen, interest caught. "I believe he's found a viable way to get rid of you."

"Really?" Aracelis scoffed, rolling her eyes indignantly at Clematis. "I already know he's trying! You think telling me crap I already know will make me attack him so you can run away? No, I want him to tear off your fucking head!"

"Oh, well, I do expect you to help me get away." Clematis gave a tense smile to go along with her sickly sweet tone. "You don't think he'll damage her beyond what her regeneration can repair, but what if there was something that could still heal even the deepest of injuries? Something that could reverse the damage even long after the injury?"

"There's not…" Aracelis cut herself off. The sideways glance she aimed at Orihime made a shiver run down her spine. This… This couldn't be the same person talking. The demeanor was completely different, and their tone, even if having the same voice, was more malicious. "I see. I guess I can smash your face in later."

"Good, good. I see you understand." A cero blowing up the wall made Orihime quickly bring up her shield again to avoid being hit with yet more flying debris. By then, Clematis had set Aracelis down. As Aracelis stood with a hand on her hip, glare focused on the plant hollow, Clematis wrapped a few of her own vines around the bundle holding onto Ulquiorra. She severed the vines before quickly skittering away and out the even larger hole in the side of the building.

Her vines were barely out of sight as she plummeted downwards when Aracelis whipped around.

* * *

Despite the disorientation of being thrown back into reality from the rotation of Clematis's favored memory of him stabbing Aracelis and the human woman lying dead at his, no, the other human's feet, he immediately recognized the situation remained precarious when it came to the Orihime's survival. He could focus his attention on that instead of the memories. As he attempted to blink away his still hazy vision he also saw Aracelis standing. And then her using sonido, her fist shattering apart the human's barrier like glass. As she, or more likely Mirro, reached forward, Ulquiorra used sonido to race forward, his fingers crushing her wrist with a sickening snap as he tossed her through a wall and into the hallway to buy a few moments for his sight to fully return.

Orihime watched with wide, confused eyes, her hands clutched to her chest in fright at narrowly avoiding being killed by an assumed ally. Or that he had protected her. As Mirro stepped back into the room, a snarl in place, Orihime shifted her attention between them, like she didn't quite understand what she should be doing. Annoying.

"Use your shield," he ordered. Amazingly the command made it through her head in time for her to bring up the barrier as blue light began to gather in Aracelis's palm. He moved in front of the girl, deflecting the cero to the side with his hand. The cero, he could already tell it would have killed her even with the shield. He glanced at his hand when he felt the slightest stinging sensation. The outermost layer of his skin had been burned away. He recognized some of the traces of energy as being his own from Segunda Etapa. Mirro, he appeared desperate to kill the human.

Targeting Orihime, the parasite knew. Clematis, she had shared his most recent plan of using Orihime to heal Aracelis's wounds after pulling Mirro from her. For it to react with this level of fear, that meant the plan would have worked had it remained a secret. He clenched his jaw, not pleased with having to find a new method after finally believing he had a solution. Damn Clematis for this, and for making him remember all of that pitiful human's memories. They made this failure more abhorrent.

A bala collided with the ceiling, the stone crumbling away with the threat of falling entirely should it suffer more damage. Before she could use a second bala to crush the woman beneath rubble, Ulquiorra used sonido to rush forward to crush her hand- her wrist had already healed, Mirro not interfering with regeneration now that he held control.

He temporarily lost sight again as the bala instead exploded in his face in a blinding flash. Blood dripped down into his eyes, clouding his vision in red. The sound of a sword leaving a sheath made him rush forward anyway. He threw Aracelis into the ground, drawing his own zanpakuto to drive it into her right shoulder, pinning her to the floor. A scream ripped out of her throat, making him want to flinch. Her hand desperately grasped the hilt of her sword. Mirro knew he would need her resurrección to have any chance against him. Even if it nearly pained him to do so, he stepped onto her head, forcing it to turn so he could see her face.

"Bastard," Mirro coughed out. He tried to turn back to the floor to hide her face. Ulquiorra rocked his sword back and forth, widening the wound, making Mirro grimace in agony. "Damn it," Mirro mouthed, breathing heavy. He wondered what he was hitting when stabbing her shoulder, the creature always reacting dramatically when it was injured. Ulquiorra waited, watching her lips closely in case Mirro decided to use her resurrección. If he did, then Ulquiorra would learn the name and command as well. He would tell Aracelis. His plan would still work then, if she could briefly overpower Mirro so he could tear the creature from her.

Mirro glared back at him defiantly for a few seconds, refusing to admit defeat. Another twist of his sword and he shrieked in pain, body going limp again as he forfeited control. Ulquiorra, he truly hated hearing her voice in that much distress. It was made worse that he was once again the cause.

After a continued silence, he reached down, rolling her body over. He took away her sword and sheath, once more claiming possession over it to prevent Mirro from using it against him should he be feigning sleep. With that task completed and Aracelis and Mirro both effectively unconscious, he did something wholly ridiculous. He lifted her off the stone-shard covered floor, holding her closely to his chest as he straightened his back, intent on carrying her even as the human looked on wordlessly. He didn't want to leave her on a blood-covered battleground. He didn't want her to wake up alone. While he could pretend to be indifferent to the memories Clematis dredged up, Aracelis couldn't. She would inevitably be emotional towards whatever Clematis had shown her. He didn't want her to wake up with the sense he had abandoned her for Aizen's orders yet again…

He… he felt poor enough already without the added guilt of upsetting her more. At the very least he could take her somewhere familiar, clean her up, and attempt being considerate towards her feelings.

Carrying her… It certainly wasn't because he was seeking comfort from her, he told himself.

* * *

Orihime felt like being confused was becoming an ongoing theme when watching the Arrancar around her. The sight in front of her only added to her confusion. After he had thrown Aracelis to the ground, stepping on the back of her head while stabbing her shoulder, she thought for sure he was about to kill her. But, as soon as she passed out - or whatever was controlling her did, because Orihime still felt that had been the case-, Ulquiorra did something that she viewed as being completely out of character for the cold and indifferent jailer she knew. He had gently picked Aracelis off the floor instead of leaving her behind. He cradled her against his chest, her head resting on his shoulder, while he looked unbothered by the contact- she _definitely_ didn't imagine him to be one for physical contact from strangers either.

How he kept a blank expression when he turned to her, she didn't know. She stared at the two nearly gaping. It's the only thing she could think to do when her brain kept concluding the two had a bond way beyond leader and subordinate. She couldn't comprehend it at all. They were so different from how she imagined the Arrancar, especially if someone as cruel as Ulquiorra could care about anything… And if he was the reason Aracelis had been asking her all those random questions about love, then the one she had been asking about had been Ulquiorra of all people. If she was reading the situation correctly, that is, because it certainly seemed outrageous. She didn't remember hitting her head…

"Woman."

Orihime shook her head out of the clouds when she noticed Ulquiorra was trying tell her something. She missed the first words he had said, only catching the flat tone of him saying 'woman' to gain her attention. "Yes?"

He turned around, emotionless voice ordering her to "Follow."

She assumed he would be taking her to another cell right away. Her priorities were different. The second he noticed her not following he turned back around with what she believed to be the world's most subtle scowl on his face. "I can heal Aracelis." She had mentally said she would, and she intended to carry through with it.

Ulquiorra stared back at her blankly like she just told him the weirdest thing he'd ever heard. She was fairly sure she could have told him a universe of talking puppies existed _and have him believe it,_ than her apparently bizarre offer of healing Aracelis following having her seemingly attack her. Honestly, she would have offered to heal him too if the burns on his face and hand hadn't already healed. After getting over the absurdity of her offer, he looked to Aracelis's face, his eyes even softening a teeny bit.

"No."

Orihime almost sputtered out 'What?' in response. With the look he gave Aracelis, she had been sure he'd let her help. "Why not? It would only take a few minutes at most. Her shoulder is still bleeding, and she looks like she's in pain." Aracelis muttered restlessly in sleep as she pinched her brows together in a tight scowl. "I just want to help."

Ulquiorra never glanced back up at Orihime, instead his eyes trained on Aracelis's lips like he was trying to figure out what she was mumbling about. After a few seconds of this he conceded to her request, shocking Orihime again. "Heal her internal injuries while avoiding her shoulder. He will inevitably try killing you again if it's healed now."

"He? So it really was someone else controlling her…" Clematis had been talking to someone else, telling them that she would somehow cause a problem, and then he attacked. "Mirro, right?" All of their names were sort of odd, in her opinion, so she wasn't sure if she had remembered it correctly.

She nearly flinched at the cold edge in his demanding voice as he asked "What did that weed say?" The name itself had been enough to irritate him… Ulquiorra really hated this Mirro, possibly even more than Clematis. She didn't mean to begin her own interrogation.

"N-not much. Just that you could get rid of him, or something? Then she started talking about my ability to reverse injuries…" She hadn't pieced that together right then, since she had been trying to figure out the change in Aracelis's behavior, and Clematis had deliberately been vague to keep from scaring Orihime into fleeing. She might have tried if she knew she was about to be attacked _again_.

He listened to the information, but said nothing before walking forward to the rubble-covered, blood-spattered couch that had formerly been Orihime's bed. With as much care as before, he softly set Aracelis down on the cleanest area. He brushed her hair to the side so her face wasn't obscured by it. His hand even lingered on her cheek for a second. Aracelis must be someone truly special to him for him to treat her with such tenderness.

The glare he aimed at her sent her scrambling to the couch, tripping over a rock on the way. The fall quickly reminded her how injured she herself was… To make it easier on herself, Orihime knelt down in front of Aracelis before calling out Soten Kisshun. It wasn't until then that she noticed Aracelis had a few broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and her stomach had only healed outwardly. The earlier regeneration, like how her wrist seemed to heal within seconds after being snapped, it wasn't working anymore. And her broken ribs, that must have happened when Ulquiorra threw her to the ground.

She looked back over her shoulder, considering if she had been wrong since he had hurt her so badly. He didn't seem to notice her staring at him. His full attention went to watching Aracelis.

"Ulqui…. Orra…" Aracelis mumbled, voice still barely above a whisper. Orihime glanced back at her patient, noticing that Aracelis remained asleep. Sleep talking… and asking for Ulquiorra. Aracelis, she really must have been trying to figure out how she felt about him. Or if he returned her feelings- she had gotten upset when Orihime couldn't give a proper answer to that.

Her skin crawled when she felt Ulquiorra increase his spiritual pressure. The dark energy that Aracelis had been using in her attacks, it felt like an intensified version of his. It terrified her, even when he clearly was still restraining it. Aracelis stopped rambling in her sleep immediately. His presence had calmed her down…

"Aracelis, she's more than just your subordinate, isn't she?" Orihime asked quietly, still scared that flinging around an accusation like that would get her in trouble with Ulquiorra. Even Aracelis had seemed reluctant to reveal who she was asking about. He may be nicer to Aracelis, but Orihime knew not to think she'd get the same treatment. He was still her captor after all. She wouldn't want to get Aracelis into trouble with him either, as nicer didn't mean he wouldn't harm her. He… he could be emotionally manipulative, as she'd experienced herself.

"I simply have no need for an injured subordinate."

Orihime jerked her head around so she could frown at him. Obviously, that was a lie. He had been hesitant to have her healed, yet he still intended to carry her away elsewhere to care for her. "You would have left her behind and followed Clematis if that was true." He would have left Aracelis behind, locked Orihime in a different room – or even a closet if it had been more convenient to him- before pursuing Clematis, whom he clearly disliked.

His face remained a mask of indifference as he took her words as a challenge. Then he turned his gaze back to Aracelis, ignoring her. Orihime puffed out her cheeks childishly for a second before thinking of something else to ask him. He was entirely focused on Aracelis, so maybe she could get away with asking another question. This one seemed more dangerous, though.

"What… What exactly did I see when I touched Clematis?"

"Nothing. That pitiful human was not me." The defensive edge did not go unnoticed. Orihime felt like she was getting a better understanding of him. His denials, they were truths he didn't want known. "Tell anyone, including Aracelis, and I assure you that I will make your stay in Las Noches a living hell."

"O-okay," she muttered nervously, recognizing that he sincerely meant the threat. That open hostility also revealed that it had to be the truth, that the memory of the human soul that forcibly turned himself into a hollow had later become Ulquiorra. Even with the memory being just a snippet, she felt sorry for him. For all the pain he had been in as a human that lead to him becoming a hollow. She had tried not to consider that hollows had all been humans at one point, desperation and fear and loneliness infecting some souls with such suffering they became monsters... Like what happened with Sora…

"What was the emotion that human felt?" he unexpectedly asked after having shut down her question with threats. He didn't so much as glance at her, nor did his flat tone deviate. It almost made her think she had imagined him speaking.

For a few seconds she felt confused, not understanding how he couldn't name an emotion. It had been so strong. "Heartbreak. It's called heartbreak when the world seems to crash down after losing someone important to you."

He fell back into silence, never giving a response to her answer.

"That's enough," he eventually stated, already bending over to retrieve Aracelis before Orihime could register it was time to stop. Almost impatiently, he picked Aracelis back up, carrying her off towards the door with him, assuming Orihime would have the sense to follow him without being asked to. He was a very demanding person... but she did stand up, body aching as she trailed after him in silence. She felt light-headed now… and thirsty.

She knew she couldn't get away like this, so she just wanted to take a nap after fixing up her injuries and changing- sadly, she would be wearing the Arrancar uniform now. She hadn't been eating because she hadn't felt hungry ever since coming to Hueco Mundo, likely because the situation depressed her. Her last meal had been in the Soul Society which had to be a few days ago by now... Her body could feel the lack of fuel. If being able to rest meant following him obediently to another cell, then that's what she would do for the time being.

She would try to get a better sense of how to possibly escape the endless white halls of her prison as they walked too. She hadn't given up on trying to erase the Hogyoku, hoping that she would have another opportunity that didn't get interrupted by a vengeful plant hollow. Playing hostage hadn't worked too well for her… So if it happened again she made a vow to at least try to have stronger resolve. She wouldn't just play the victim, but try to take charge of the situation- without violence, though, because she still couldn't bring herself to hurt anyone.

Orihime was lead into a room almost identical to the first, the door closing behind her back as soon as she stepped in. Trapped again…

Before setting to work taking care of herself, she searched out Ichigo's spiritual pressure just to check on how he was doing… and guiltily take comfort in the fact he and her other friends had come to help her. She felt lonely without them…

* * *

 **And now, onto the aftermath of this all. I promise both will be thinking over what they saw, even 'that human was** _ **not**_ **me' Ulquiorra. I was deliberately a bit more vague with his- like names, places, etc.- because Clematis's ability isn't** _ **that**_ **good that it can reach back to the human soul's past perfectly. She could reconstruct most of the imagery into a blurred scene but the emotions she can replay with more clarity- the reason she got away with Aracelis's being so specific is she had Mirro's memories to assist in reconstructing a more perfect memory. I do hope his past makes sense given that that much lost made him hesitant to become attached to anything, that caring didn't have a point besides causing pain, and that being detached from people would spare him from it. Also the materialism of what he can see is real, and the nihilism of the everything having no meaning.**

 **His human life also mirrors now, in a way, with how he followed after the bandit leader and now follows Aizen, among other things I'll get to writing. I never could decide on a human name to match that he had lived in Japan, but I think he wouldn't have clung to it either and chose his current name to distance himself from it- as 'he is a hollow, not a human.' He was born nearly a hundred years after Aracelis the human had died, his human self dying when he was 18/19-ish, 13-ish when he joined the bandits, and 7-ish when he lost his parents.**

 **And sorry for any mistakes, as editing this monster was taking forever and I, ah, put off my homework to type it :) Also amazed this got done, since I stated it last Saturday, but two snow days and no work did wonders. We'll see about the next chapter getting done on time, as finals are next week for me. I should study, but who knows if I actually will. Anyway,**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to 18TSMarley, ookawa, Tanner Clark, LillyROse0231, rokureader180, DraconicForests and leta raise for following and/or favoriting!**

 **Haipa-chan- You know, I felt like it was someone who regularly reviews, but I didn't want to guess and be wrong. And I'm glad I caught you off guard! I was trying to. And yeah, I was trying not to give anything away when I responded to your first review guessing about her past; you were totally on the right track! They're both going to have to with their pasts after this chapter for sure. We'll see how that goes for them. I'm glad Ulquiorra's confusion worked out, because he really is torn between two conflicting ideals at this point. And I know, I really wanted to use Clematis to reveal both of their pasts, but that dang Ulquiorra. He's too badass. I sort of struggled to come up with a semi-plausible way for her to gain the upper hand without him just immediately killing her; hence making him choose between the two and not being able to, the distracting him with Aracelis. As it stands, too, I tried to make it so he thought Orihime was a lot more fragile than she actually is, since she's a human and all, and he didn't want to piss Aizen off more by getting her killed. But yeah, Ulquiorra can be so difficult because he's too smart and too strong sometimes. Cornering him is so difficult. Ah, well, I hope the drama makes up for it. Thanks for reviewing again (for this and last chapter)!**

 **MorteSangriz- I'm glad you enjoy my writing! But I am not very nice to my characters so suffer they will. And, I mean, look at Ulquiorra. He's got tear streaks on his face and claims hearts don't exist. Something made him this way, and it wasn't something good. Happy to see you still reading and thanks for reviewing again!**

 **Thestormwriter- I was trying to catch people off guard last chapter! Glad it worked out in that sense, and that it made sense with her character. While he definitely tried not to react this chapter, I promise he's going to be considering what he saw- even if he doesn't want to admit that human could ever have been him.**

 **TfallingangelT- I don't have much to say in response other than I'm 'pleased' that her past elicited some sympathy because anyone from that sort of situation needs/deserves some. Thank you for reviewing, and once more for following the story last chapter!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- Yeah, I've wanted to share her past for a while just to explain some of her behaviors- even Ulquiorra could tell what she was doing wasn't healthy. Her past was definitely part of why, when Ulquiorra was suddenly in charge of her and doing things like manipulating her emotions or outright 'snapping' at her, it scared her into being subservient so he doesn't leave- as he is the only one she really knows there. Mirro preyed off of that, knowing exactly how to get to her. And it sort of is second nature for her to be unsure of herself, both because she already has some self-esteem issues, but also because she's used to has Mirro always. She definitely craves affection from Ulquiorra because, when he's not being a hesitant mess himself, he is affectionate towards her and she adores it. She subconsciously saw he was different from her past 'loves' as well. I hope Ulquiorra's past explains just as much as Aracelis's had. Both have their issues to work through, that's for sure, but they have each other still. Thank you the review, I hope this was just as great/sad as the last! I tried to make it that way, after all.**


	35. Chapter 35- Aftermath

Ulquiorra carried Aracelis back to their room immediately after placing the human girl in another cell. Aracelis, she had relaxed since initially passing out- she grew agitated following the creature taking control of her, he had observed. Her shoulder, the bleeding had slowed, but the wound had not yet closed. Either it had slowed her regeneration on purpose, or it had fell unconscious as well after having been injured. Once more covered in blood and wearing shredded clothes because of that _thing_ and his actions… At least her internal injuries had been healed- strange human girl, offering to heal her enemies.

Instead of depositing her in the bed, he took her to the bathroom, setting her on the counter. He'd do anything to distract himself at the moment, pathetically enough. Cleaning her up fell into that category. Her grimacing in pain when he lightly pressed a cloth to her blood-and-rubble caked skin made him regret his choice of distraction. It only reminded him that he had caused her injuries. Rationally, he knew he had to stop Mirro from killing the woman, yet… Now he felt like he had taken it too far again. Stabbing her, it hadn't been necessary. He could have rolled her over and stepped on her shoulder. _Mirro_ … he had been aiming to cause that bastard pain so he would fall unconscious or reveal her resurrección to him, but it hadn't been necessary to stop him.

He dropped the now irredeemably stained cloth into the sink before going to grab them both a change of clothes from the wardrobe. Aracelis, her battle with Clematis and her allies had left her clothes torn apart, melted by toxins, burned by ceros, covered in sand, and soaked with blood. She had fought hard against them all by herself. He felt almost proud of that fact. When not restricted, she could use her full talent and shred her enemies. If she had only stayed outside though… Perhaps that had been the mosquito's intention. Instead of fleeing, the hollow tried to use Aracelis as a distraction. Clematis wouldn't hold back from sharing the weakness his concern for Aracelis created. All of the weed's allies likely knew of his fondness for her, and that using her was a viable plan in most circumstances. Yet now, as Clematis no longer even claimed to be on her side, the attacks on Aracelis could worsen.

He began awkwardly redressing an unconscious Aracelis after peeling off her filthy clothes. He changed as well, repulsed by reeking of Aracelis's blood. Then he carefully wrapped a towel over her shoulder, not wishing to leave her to find bandages when the wound would close soon enough. This would be adequate until she healed. Carrying her to bed, he nearly considered not setting her down, holding her for a time or going to the chair to sit with her. He instead laid her gently in bed, covering her up before turning away from her.

More than anything, he wanted to shower. Washing away the lingering scent of her blood and the persistent chill he felt, it sounded pleasant, but he had already decided she wouldn't be waking up alone. With… with how poorly he was processing Clematis's actions, Aracelis would be worse. For her to cry, he wondered what memories Clematis had chosen. She would require comfort of some sort, knowing her neurotic nature. He didn't want to deprive her of that much, even if he didn't know how to comfort her. Whatever he did, she would probably be grateful for his attempt. Far too attached to him… And he was far too attached to her.

From what he'd seen in those memories, even if he continued to deny that human being him, the similarities to the past and present, he found them difficult to ignore. The human, his association with that band of human trash placed a target on that woman. His position in Aizen's army, it did the same damn thing. The other Espada and Clematis, they went after Aracelis because they understood he cared for her. They saw her as his easiest weakness to target. And Aizen… Should Ulquiorra disobey orders, Aizen would likely choose to punish Aracelis for it. That would be the only effective punishment against him considering he had formerly not cared if he died or not. Before, Aizen had his loyalty simply because he had nothing else; punishing him, it hadn't been possible, but also unnecessary since he did whatever was demanded of him. Aracelis, she made his blind loyalty waver. Threatening her as a reprimand was more effective than any other form of punishment. Already this had affected Aracelis. His hesitance to save her when faced with the possibility of failing to protect Aizen's 'property,' she did not deserve it. He should have acted to protect her, not some human woman he could care less about- especially with his plan to use her ability all but ruined. Inevitably, just like that human, he would end up hurting someone… someone important to him because of the regime he followed. This had been just a warning of what would eventually be Aracelis's fate.

The likelihood of losing her because of his choices…

He sat down on the edge of the bed before he looked back at her. He brushed her hair off her face before resting the back of his hand on her cheek, her skin only slightly warmer than his. The thought of losing her… Why did it make his chest ache? He should feel nothing… He wanted to feel nothing. It had been easier that way.

Even if he didn't have a heart like that human had, it would be painful to lose her. Heartbreak, Orihime had called that awful emotion. The human grieving for the loss of that woman, that feeling of heartbreak, it reminded him of what he had felt when he thought he had killed Aracelis… No matter how hard he had tried to blame her for what happened, for being weak, it was his fault. That was an inescapable fact. He had almost killed her once already with his own actions. It would happen again. Protecting her, he was doing the opposite. Everything about him put her in danger. If she didn't insist on being near him, and if he hadn't allowed it, she would be safer. Aizen wouldn't have the threat of punishing her if he didn't care about her. The Espada, or at least those like Nnoitra, they wouldn't pursue her if she held no importance to him. Clematis, she had used Aracelis to get at him from the beginning, her scheme becoming ever more convoluted to include bringing Aracelis harm as well. Even Mirro wouldn't be causing her as many problems if he hadn't interfered. Ulquiorra, his interest in Aracelis, his need to help her, it threatened Mirro's existence. If he hadn't gotten close to her, the two would have continued on like they had for centuries beforehand. Mirro, his preference was to stay with her, as disgusting as that idea was to Ulquiorra.

She would be better off without him. He didn't offer her _anything_. He spurned her desire for emotional intimacy. He purposefully withheld from showing the affection she craved. He continually hurt her mentally and physically to the point her happiness was fleeting at most. She was presumably miserable. Why she stayed, he still didn't understand. Why she chose to waste her time on him, he never comprehended.

Her importance to him… He could almost understand why this happened. If he chose to accept that that pathetic piece of trash had been the basis of his being -the soul that fought its way to evolve into a Vasto Lorde- then Aracelis mirrored his past relationships, melding them all together to form her distorted place in his mind. Aracelis, she became his salvation and damnation all at once. Initially, she had acted as his leader, as someone powerful that he could cling to without worry of them dying. He would have willing taken on whatever task she gave him in his search for a purpose. She had been like that bandit leader, or even Aizen currently. Eventually he had… he had grown fond of her presence, like that human had the woman. He had wanted to stay by her side. To protect her when she was no longer stronger than him. Their relationship had become something else. He had no longer considered her as his leader, but an equal. Perhaps even a friend. And now, now he had complicated things further. Treating her as his… His whatever she was to him. Whatever that human woman had been to him. No, to his memories. The human's memories. Not his. Damn Clematis for repeating those memories so many times in succession, forcing an association between the woman dying and Aracelis- the mere thought of either brought forth that pitiful human's emotions as if they were his own, overlapping the events to the point of inseparability.

He despised that something as lowly as Clematis could confuse him. The past, it didn't matter. Rationally, it shouldn't matter because nothing could alter it. It became an intangible figment of the brain, its actuality lost with every time it was recalled to the point it may as well have been imagined to begin with. Hollows fought to evolve, to a future goal, not to live in the past. He was a hollow. Yet how he clung to the past like a human…

Just to quiet his thoughts for a time, he almost wanted to sleep. The last time he got caught up thinking like this, he ended up in the tree wishing for silence. Sometimes for death. He didn't want to return to that. Right now, the idea of lying next to Aracelis, of having her inevitably roll over and cling to him, it sounded pleasant. Like a despondent child, he wanted to seek comfort from her. He logically knew that would only add to his current predicament. He had already allowed himself to grow far too attached… Relying on her for such a human need, it would make things worse than they already were. If he kept doing this to himself, he would just be setting himself up to suffer more when she died.

He understood _those_ memories. Being close to someone, especially someone so fragile, it didn't hold any purpose beyond inflicting pain on himself. It would be better for her as well, if she could let him go. He did not want to force her decision, however, given that she appeared unwilling to abandon him no matter what ill effects he had on her wellbeing. His reluctance to push her away didn't help matters. He… he didn't want her to leave again.

In truth, he didn't know what to do. Logic and emotion, he couldn't decide which he wanted follow even if he knew which he _should_ be listening to. That confusion, he hated it. This sudden indecision since her return, he didn't know how to deal with it. The emotions still raw from Clematis's ability, he didn't know how to process them. It would take time to repress them again; and even then, how easily the control he gained from suppressing them could be broken- Aracelis could snap it with her mere presence after all.

After one final stroke, he lifted his hand from her face. When he stood up. she shifted in her sleep, almost making him think she had woken up. He wasn't ready for that right now, not when he would divulge too many of his foolish thoughts as he attempted to work through them. Laying with her was out of the question. Seeking comfort from her, it would only make her more attached to him- and worsen his attachment to her.

He walked to the other side of the room to the window, intent on sitting on the ledge, staring outside to blank his mind in order to regain his control, until she awakened.

* * *

Aracelis woke up, her right shoulder aching horribly. Again. While she recognized she was at least in a bed and not on a cold marble floor somewhere, she had to open her eyes to confirm that she had, in fact, been taken back to their room. Ulquiorra, she could sense him in the room, but she found herself alone in bed. That fact disappointed her, in a way. At least he had covered her up with the blanket- she felt like a block of ice.

After a few seconds of staring blankly at the ceiling, she sat up. She was surprised to find herself in clean clothes. He'd gone through the effort of washing the grim of her as well. Gingerly, she peeked under the towel on her shoulder to see the damage. Nothing, of course, as whatever wound had been there had outwardly closed, the internal ache remaining as muscle repaired itself the rest of the way- slowed regeneration, probably a punishment for wasting energy or for reacting to the memories like she did. She vaguely remembered Clematis slamming her into the floor until she lost consciousness. Those injuries, judging the leftover traces of spiritual pressure, had been healed by Orihime. At least she was physically okay; mentally was another thing entirely though.

She felt like shit. No other way to describe it, as she literally felt awful from reliving a good portion of her human life. It felt like it just happened too… Trying to sort out how she, in her current mindset, perceived the events of the past, it was confusing on so many levels. Part of her knew she shouldn't give a damn, that that had been centuries ago when she was a sickly human; it was of no consequence to her as a hollow. The other part, the one that she stupidly let win the mental argument, was the one thinking 'oh, I act exactly like that human. Isn't that a _wonderful_ thing for a hollow to be doing?'

Hesitantly she lifted her head up to look for him. He sat on the window sill, eyes fixated on something outside- likely the moon. Oddly, his body faced her. Usually he would have had his back to her so he could ignore her. It made her wonder if he had been periodically checking on her to make sure she was okay. He glanced at her for a fraction of a second when he noticed her attention focused on him. Then he went back to looking outside without any further acknowledgment of her waking up.

She bit her lip nervously, not sure if that meant he was ignoring her, or if he simply didn't have anything to say. Who knows what happened after she passed out... Or if he was angry with her for complicating matters when she had arrived. Again. She never learned from her mistakes. Letting Clematis use her as a distraction for a second time, how stupid could she get?

"Ulquiorra," she began, her voice almost a whisper as she averted her gaze to her lap. "Could… could you come here?" Wanting him to come comfort her… how disgustingly human. If he wasn't already upset with her, her reaction to Clematis's attack would do it. Acting even more human than she already did, he would hate it. When he didn't answer right away, she shifted nervously. Then she remembered she did the same damn thing as a human, further disturbing her. She had no idea the extent of how human she acted. This pointed it out to her instead of letting her remain blissfully unaware of her own behavior.

"You are seeking comfort from me." Even with it being a statement, she lifted her head at the inflection in his voice. It had been a tiny deviation from his flat tone, but, if she wasn't mistaken, he sounded nearly surprised. Or like he hadn't caught that that obviously was what she wanted even when she didn't directly say 'come hold me.' He waited for her to respond. She…. She honestly didn't know what to make of his weird reaction. Did he think she _wouldn't_ want his comfort? Then again, last time Clematis tricked her, she had been panicking, not wanting to be touched.

"Yeah… Pathetic, right?" He was probably just shocked she would ask when he had told her that's not something he would provide. She returned her attention to the blanket on that thought. "And I… I know you're no here to comfort me. I just hoped-"

She cut herself off when he sat on the edge of the bed, not even realizing he had gotten up. Hell, with how quickly he'd made it to the bed, he must have 'raced' over to stop her from berating herself. Before she had the sense to tear her wide eyes away from the blanket, he raised his arm, his fingertips gently tilting her head so she would look at him. His expression was softer than usual, his emerald eyes lacking the cold, stony edge. And behind that look of what was perhaps concern or pity, was sadness. Something had happened to him. The fact he didn't have a giant wall built around his reactions showed as much.

"You need only ask, Aracelis," he said softly, almost reassuringly. His hand left her chin to hesitantly rest on her left shoulder, as if inviting her to embrace him no matter if he was apprehensive to show such affection or not. Quiet. Initiating contact. Being nice. Something definitely happened.

She accepted the offer, nonetheless. She repositioned herself until she essentially ended up on his lap, her arms wrapped around him, and her face buried into the crook of his neck. He tensed up for a second, relaxing sooner than he had previously. Without prompting he even lightly rested a hand on her side, albeit barely touching her. When he turned his head into her hair, it only confirmed his mood once more. The last time he had done this he had punched a hole in her gut to stop instinct from running wild. The ache in her right shoulder, it probably meant that something similar had happened. She held him in a tighter hug for a few seconds, happy to have him here even after she presumably attacked him again.

After sitting in silence for what felt like twenty or more minutes, she decided she had wasted enough time clinging to him in attempt to console herself. She had calmed down enough to speak- sort of. "What happened?" An open question for him to answer however he'd like. She doubted he would begin with what upset him.

"Clematis escaped after you passed out. The woman survived the encounter."

Two brief sentences. That's all he wanted to share when obviously a lot more had happened. "I must have really caused a problem if that weed managed to run off again," she sighed. She had been hoping to hear the creature had been torn in half and splattered across the ground in a pile of gore like her ally had been. Her pesquisa only picked up a small trace of Clematis and her lackeys when she consciously searched for them- they were all actively trying to restrain their spiritual pressures to avoid detection. Must be clear on the opposite side of Las Noches near the Privaron's quarters and held up in some underground pit. The fact Aizen hadn't punished them pissed her off.

"Are you blaming yourself?" he asked. She had the feeling he was about to tell her it wasn't her fault, like the last time. She didn't feel that blind panic this time. That… That had probably happened because of her human past. Thinking he would hit her for getting in the way… That fear hadn't even crossed her mind this time until now- and she didn't actively feel the fear. Just a general 'I made things worse' feeling persisted.

"I suppose not." No sense in disagreeing with him if this was his form of forgiveness. "I mean, I assume I didn't help matters, but I hadn't caused the situation in its entirety."

She fell into silence again. Did he seriously not blame her for this _at all_? For Clematis getting away? For losing control of her body? For something? Okay, she understood that he would place fault of Clematis for causing the whole production, because she did, but his refusal to blame her for instinct's actions, she didn't understand that. Unless he knew. He… he might have learned something already, about instinct and her. If he did, his adamant excusing her actions while under instinct's control made more sense. Did that mean he considered them separate? Clematis, when instinct had interrupted the memories, she was speaking to it as well, addressing it like a third party. Did… did that actually confirm it was something else? Was she the only damn person that hadn't figured this out already!?

Ulquiorra's voice interrupted her thoughts once more. "You had been crying while the weed used her ability."

"That," she said, a weak, humorless laugh escaping. "That must have been a sight." Great. Now she had cried like a human too. She expected for him to sound more disgusted by the fact, but instead it sounded like he was seeking an answer as to why. She hoped it stemmed from concern rather than mere curiosity at what had made her bawl like a child. "She… she had shown me some memories from when I'd been a human." Telling him, it might help some. Trying to cage up her emotions had never been a good idea after all. She was particularly talented at freaking herself out with exaggerations of the consequences. Look at how well their relationship was going because she felt too terrified to break that _beloved_ rule of his to discuss it with him, even if he would likely allow it- he let her get away most anything now. But he would listen at least. He had always been a good listener regardless of if it was something he asked or not. He'd also spit out the most likely outcome instead of letting her go wild theorizing.

But where to begin and what to share? Not all of it, obviously. Definitely not starting with her sob story either. "I'd been able to see spirits when I was kid," she offered, that information something interesting to her. Surprising she had lasted as long as she did considering how a human with that much spiritual pressure would be a delicious treat for the taking. "Might have been attacked by a hollow or something; weed-face didn't show the whole memory." The event was important considering instinct had presumably interrupted to keep the memory from her. Damn Clematis, listening to instinct just because she wanted to continue using her ability rather than have Aracelis pass out under instinct's interference.

What had been so important in that memory anyway? Instinct… it couldn't be another hollow, and certainly not the one that attacked her as a human. No way. Not when she'd lived as a human for _years_ following that event. Despite it being weird in itself, she already remembered her human self dying, no hollows nearby her to have caused the event- just another flash because one lightning strike wasn't unlucky enough. Hollows didn't get trapped in human bodies. Hollows didn't attach themselves to human spirits. They ate them and incorporated the energy into themselves before hunting their next meal. If they stuck around in one body, they'd starve after draining the spiritual energy- and humans typically had very little of it to begin with. Even if it had happened later, a secondary soul wouldn't remain conscious after the Gillian stage. A Vasto Lorde, fully evolved and not bound to fall back into madness, another hollow soul would never survive that. Right? How _convenient_ that the bastard voice didn't chime in.

"If you had possessed enough spiritual power to see spirits, it is probable you had at some point been pursued by hollows," he agreed; he found the oddity interesting as well. "Yet you should not have stopped seeing them." He might as well have added 'elaborate' to the end of his sentence with the challenging remark. Whatever he thought up, he'd tensed slightly when she had mentioned that a hollow may have attacked her before losing her ability to sense spirits.

"Yeah, I should have been a tasty snack forevermore. From what I was shown," which obviously hadn't been the humans _entire_ life, "I stopped seeing them right after that. Got the sense I didn't remember the attack afterwards either." The human never thought about it again, which either meant she forgot, or Clematis chose to gloss over those memories. "I never saw anything that could have been another hollow after that." It was like she had lost her spiritual pressure entirely, no longer appealing to the hollow masses seeking a meal. A hollow, even if it did attach to her somehow, it surely would have died when she lost her spiritual energy. "Suddenly had terrible luck too. And was clumsy as all hell." If had only been a short streak for less than a year, she would have perhaps accepted a hollow had latched onto her. The 'clumsiness' might have been the hollow messing with her body as it died. Humans weren't that strong, though, especially when drained of all power. Surviving with a hollow somehow alive inside her while she had no spiritual power at all over the span of years went against all odds. The probability of that would be zero. "But, then again, that is just _me,_ as that hasn't changed even now." Tripping remained a hazard- what a pathetic way for a hollow to die, tripping onto things. The human died from her poor luck. Not a hollow actively starving in her. Lightning of all things, as that first flash had been the last thing Clematis had shown her. No wonder she disliked lightning though… She didn't want something so ridiculous to happen to her again as a hollow. "Is this important somehow?"

He might not have answered, but his asking showed his consideration of the situation. It was something troubling judging his reaction earlier. The teeny spike in spiritual pressure hinted he was incredibly pissed off about it too. His control snapping even a bit took a lot- unless he was already that upset and she shouldn't have added to his problems. He knew something though. His silence told her he wouldn't be telling her _what_ he knew.

"Is this one of your necessary lies?" She wasn't angry. Before, when she had asked why he wanted to know about her past following Clematis's first plot, he said he couldn't tell her. That it was necessary to protect her life. She trusted him. Instinct taking control, Ulquiorra worried about the consequences perhaps more than she did. All this time, he'd been trying to learn what instinct was, gathering whatever information he could from her behavior and how she answered his questions.

"It is," he affirmed without hesitation.

She nodded her head, also cuddling up closer to him to tighten her hold again. He worried about her, in his own, near-secretive, Ulquiorra way. She wished he would tell her that he cared instead of hiding the fact like it was some forbidden act. Understanding him, when he offered absolutely nothing to do so, was impossible. It gave her anxiety not knowing. The strain between them, it would be helped if he could be a tiny bit more open about how he felt rather than internalizing _everything_. She was scared to demand it, though. She didn't want to either, considering forcing him to talk wasn't exactly how to promote openness.

"You…" he tentatively said to break the silence. The hesitance had her attention right away. "You had more you wished to speak of. I will listen, if that's what you desire."

A small smile made its way onto her face at his attempt to be 'comforting.' Still rather demanding in how he said it, but his social awkwardness was one of the quirks she enjoyed about him. As the thought crossed her mind, she couldn't hold back a half laugh. "Seeing my human memories, I think I know why I like you." Sure, she could find a few similarities, but the differences between the two human bastards she'd been with as a human and Ulquiorra made them as opposite as day and night. "I… I'd been married, as a human. The guy was a piece of shit that I hope I tore apart as soon as I became a hollow." She probably did, as hollows typically went after family or people 'close' to them. "He'd…" Even if she tried to distance herself from it, since she knew it was in the past, she couldn't quite spit out what happened.

"Do not feel obligated to explain more than that. I have a sense of what you wish to say."

"How could I forget… You've read all those human psychology books…" she grumbled half-heartedly. Abuse was probably a topic covered in psychological studies. Of course he would have noticed, as observant as he was. He knew before she did what had happened to her in the past simply because he pieced her behaviors together. "Is… is that why you don't like when I apologize to you?" Perhaps, instead of being annoyed by it like she assumed, he had been trying to tell her to stop since she hadn't been to blame. She felt him nod subtly. Apologizing for everything no matter if it was her fault or not, it had been a defense mechanism so ingrained into her personality, that even when she became a hollow, it remained. He didn't want her to submit to him out of fear. "You could have used that against me." Manipulating her by using this to his advantage, he hadn't done so. It would have been so easy, but-

"You are congratulating me for doing something I should have done regardless."

"I… I suppose." Apparently, he knew right from wrong on occasion. "Still, you're different."

Physically and personality wise. That bastard had been a charismatic people-charmer able to talk his way out of anything. Ulquiorra had nearly no social graces with his blunt disregard for pointless niceties. When he wanted to say something, he would without caring if it offended someone. Human had also been obnoxiously loud, talking about absolutely nothing yet blathering on and on, from what she remembered. A liar too. While Ulquiorra undoubtedly lied about things, it wasn't… It wasn't like the man that said he loved her when he obviously didn't. He lied in almost the opposite way. Ulquiorra said absolutely nothing to confirm or deny when he didn't want to tell her something- which might not be better, just different. He was also quiet and thoughtful, never speaking unless he had something important to share. Not shamelessly boastful either. At the time she met Ulquiorra, she may not have known it, but Ulquiorra also had a different appearance from that human too. Slender, only a fraction taller than her, presumably younger than her if she was guessing correctly, and he had softer features; he looked completely different. She always used the term pretty for him. The human had been bulky, a few inches taller than her, older, and had harsh, sharp features that might have been called 'handsome' by people that didn't know his personality. Overall, the human man had been more intimidating in appearance and size, while Ulquiorra was more intimidating by his demeanor, if she went back to thinking of how her human self would perceive the two. She decided she found him attractive because of the differences, which had led to her silly infatuation, and then to this- whatever _this_ was.

"You at least care about me some," she added. That human hadn't cared about her in any way. Ulquiorra, despite having apparently no idea what he was doing, tried being considerate towards her feelings. He tried to cheer her up. He tried to help her with her problems- even with ones she hadn't known about herself. He didn't blame her for existing in the same space as him, or get irrationally upset when she made a mistake. She could go on, she was sure.

"I… I think the reason I befriended you, other than me being very lonely, was because I wanted someone to push around," she admitted when the thought crossed her mind. Ulquiorra, she had no idea what he would have looked like as an Arrancar when she had met him. She only saw him as weaker than her. A younger, less evolved hollow couldn't defy her. He wouldn't have dared to attack her back then. He had been a safe befriend because, if she needed to, she could get rid of him. "I wanted control." She might not have remembered her past then, but, when she became a hollow, she still wanted revenge for it. Bitter and angry, she had wanted someone to take her anger out on as much as she wanted a friend. Lording her power over someone else had been an attempt to cover up her insecurity of being powerless and weak again, striped of her Vasto Lorde abilities when she became an Arrancar without the use of her zanpakuto, just like she had as a human. "Of course, you sort of like that." She'd been surprised to hear he found it attractive. Then again, he had technically been her subordinate for a few decades. Her acting like she used to, when she hadn't feared him leaving for the slightest mistake on her part, he had missed it. He missed it enough to tell her to stop being his doormat.

"But, when I came to Las Noches…" He suddenly outranked her. He had the power. That had frightened her, especially after he had snapped at her for disrespecting Aizen those first few times. She had fallen back into deferring to someone out fear of the consequences. When she recognized that she liked him it made matters worse- and forget when they slept together and he acted like that was all he wanted her for. That fear of rejection and abandonment hadn't left her despite becoming a hollow. Of course, before becoming a Vasto Lorde and then an Arrancar, she hadn't been concerned with such things; food, power, and evolution had been the only things on her mind. The higher reasoning capabilities and the lack of a purpose allowed the emotions to return. Reacting on emotions she didn't understand, on events she didn't even remember, it made her helplessly confused. And instinct preyed on that. The voice had already known everything she'd just learned considering it had manipulated her so effectively. Playing off her emotions like it did, it had to have known her past beforehand. Even the phrasing it used, like calling her a whore or worthless, it knew specifically what would rattle her. At least now she might be able to recognize when and why she reacted irrationally… And better ignore instinct's insults and manipulation. Still, with the mental wound fresh, she'd rather not have remembered all this rather depressing nonsense.

"Do you fear me, Aracelis?" The question felt weighted, like it was the most important question in the world to him. From the quiet way he asked, he seemed saddened by what line of thought she had taken. Did he expect her to say yes? Some of the stuff he did, it obviously scared her, but she wasn't afraid of him- not anymore. He'd proven that he at least wanted her alive. She pulled away, unburying her face from his neck so she could look at him. He stared back, his face expressionless while his eyes barely kept that melancholic look at bay.

"No, Ulquiorra. Sometimes your actions can scare me, but I'm not afraid of you. I trust you." She wanted to add she loved him, but caught herself before it could slip out. Saying that, neither of them were ready. Not with their disastrous emotional states. "I trust that you're not trying to hurt me. I know you're not some kind of monster." He felt guilty. She hadn't imagined it. He genuinely felt bad for injuring her, even if it was the only way to get instinct to stop its rampages. With her words, he glanced off to the side, avoiding her gaze instead of the other way around. Following a few moments where he appeared to think something over, he moved the hand resting on her side to the center of her back, urging her to embrace him again. Whether to avoid eye contact, to hide his expression, or to seek comfort, she didn't know what his goal was. She obliged the unsaid request without hesitation.

After a long pause in conversation, she tried to end the silence. "I… I sort of got caught up in those memories. They seemed like they just happened. I didn't think… I didn't think Clematis's ability was that effective." She felt bad for him. No wonder he had been so out of sorts after that mission. He had his entire mind rooted through, and who-knows what Clematis had showed him. "You had handled this a lot better…"

"Her ability has strengthened since becoming an Arrancar. Before, the memories did not hold as much clarity in imagery or feeling." More words of support. He didn't want her to blame herself for anything in the slightest. Being overly forgiving in attempt to apologize, he really was overcompensating for injuring her again. "You would be more affected by this, as that is just a fundamental difference between us. Your reaction, it makes sense given your nature. Being angry with you for such a thing, I do not see the point of it."

She leaned back again to look at him, moving a hand to rest it on his cheek. It gained his attention, him looking back at her with an uncharacteristically gentle look in his eyes. "Ulquiorra, please tell me what happened." His phrasing meant Clematis had used her ability on him again. Comparing now to then like he did, recognizing a change in Clematis's ability, she had attacked him earlier as well. With his more-reserved-than-usual behavior, whatever the damn weed had shown him had bothered him immensely. That pissed her off. Clematis had inevitably used her as a distraction in order to capture Ulquiorra in her ability- those wispy vines would have been torn apart in a second if his attention hadn't been elsewhere.

The resulting silence told her that there would be no way in hell that he would be saying a word on the matter. He did, however, lightly lay a hand over hers.

"Just… Just know that if you want to talk about it, I'll be here to listen. I care about you, and I don't want you to suffer in silence when something is bothering you." He walked around like the world was his burden alone. Bottling it all up like he did, she didn't know how he hadn't snapped yet. She would have. She didn't want him to have a breakdown once it became too much for even him. "I apologize if it's annoying that I keep asking." He didn't fight the apology this time, seeing as then he would be admitting to finding her concern annoying or endearing depending on how he chose to respond. "Just know I care about you, okay?"

For a time she just rubbed her thumb over his cheek, staying quiet so he could think for a while. "I think that's enough about this for now, huh?" Topic change: completely necessary. This was way too much emotion talk for either of them- Ulquiorra especially. Aracelis, she greatly appreciated that he had listened so intently until she could calm down, but she would need someone to _explain_ the emotions now. "I… I sort of want to ask Orihime a few things, since neither of us are any good at dealing with or naming emotions." And ask what had happened because Ulquiorra wouldn't tell her. Orihime had been awake; had to be to heal her wounds at the end of the fight. But, if he allowed her to go, then odds were he had already threatened Orihime into not sharing anything of particular importance. Still, it would be better than nothing. "Would that be okay with you?"

He sighed at the request. The reaction caught her off guard and she tilted her head to the side for an explanation. "While you had been unconscious, you went after the woman."

"Oh." What the hell sort of problem did instinct have with Orihime? Seriously, the stupid voice ruined everything for her. Ulquiorra had been avoiding telling her this, perhaps not to disappoint her because her _one_ human might be too terrified to speak to her ever again. "I suppose I won't even be allowed in the same room with her anymore." Had to follow the royal prick's order to keep Orihime safe. Why the hell Aizen didn't let Ulquiorra leave that silly meeting to put down Clematis remained to be seen. Or have Rudbornn do it. But no, the Exequias weren't called until _after_ the oh-so-important meeting. Later, when they weren't so charged with what happened, she would have to ask Ulquiorra what had been discussed at the meeting.

He mulled something over as she kept mentally cursing Aizen. "I will accompany you," he said in defeat, unable to tell her no, "and then I will stand guard nearby, as you likely wish for a private conversation with the human." Incredibly accommodating considering she had attacked the subject of Aizen's orders. Suspiciously so. "I will be required to confiscate your sword as well. If you are not fatigued, we can go at any time you wish."

"I don't feel as tired as usual," she stated after thinking about it for a moment. "I ate part of one of the Adjuchas earlier. And, since Orihime had healed most of my wounds, its lessened the burden on my slowed regeneration. Still have some of your spiritual pressure in my system too." All of that in combination, it didn't make losing control as exhausting. She felt like she had skipped to day three of recovery instead of sleeping for a full day and then laying around for another. She wanted to fill in the blanks as soon as possible while instinct apparently chose to ignore her. The human bunch, they had bizarrely moved away from Las Noches as well. She didn't want to waste this small reprieve before more chaos interrupted. "I still want to rest of a little while more, but I should be fine. Later, if I start feeling tired, I'll leave the room right away."

He nodded slightly, adding, "Exert a small amount of spiritual pressure as well. If I sense any change, from you or the human, I will immediately enter the room to investigate."

"Understood. It's a plan." She leaned forward, lightly pressing her lips to his cheek. "Thank you," she whispered before sitting back again, moving the hair off of his cheek before resting her hand on his cool skin once more. He looked shocked by the action, like he didn't expect her affection even though she often gave him pecks on the cheek like this. "For trusting me and letting me go see the human even after what happened." Logically, he should be keeping her far away from the girl. Allowing her to go speak with her just to ask her questions, obviously he was letting her just because it's what she wanted. "And, more importantly, for staying with me and for listening to me. I… I really needed it." It helped break up what would have been her thinking to herself for hours on end. Inevitably, instinct would have joined in and worsened how terrible she felt. "I needed you." Having him there, it helped her stay in the present instead of being in her head, thinking about the past and drowning in its emotions. He tried to keep her from blaming herself, too. The comfort he had offered her when she so desperately needed it, she adored it. "I still do, if you can stay a bit longer."

He needed comfort too, but he would never give into that need on his own. He would reject the idea as irrational and unnecessary. He had probably been in the window for that exact reason. She wanted to sit with him longer for her own sake too, of course, but he was the one that truly needed some consoling right now. Without knowing what was bothering him, her presence was all she had to offer. She hoped it would help. Him being miserable, she didn't like it.

When he moved to stand, she took it as a 'no, I've had enough of you hanging off me already.' She stood up, taking a step back to allow him some space, her attention back on the floor before she even noticed the action. Maybe she had misread his mood. He didn't want comfort like she assumed- that was just a thing she wanted. But… that wouldn't get her in trouble, so it wasn't a valid reason to be staring at the floor in dejection. She had no reason to be timid for asking him to stay- for her sake or his. Hesitantly she glanced back up to see if ignoring her initial response- one rooted in the past under different circumstances- was the correct decision. The human's memories, those were built on distrust, but she trusted Ulquiorra.

"After I shower."

"Oh." Of course, he'd want to shower. She actually assumed he already had considering he had to have gotten some gore on him. He did presumably carry her while she had been soaked in blood too. For him to _not_ go clean off immediately was weird almost, since he hated being dirty. Had he been _that_ worried about her that he neglected leaving her for five minutes to shower? She… she should stop doubting him so much. He cared. Instead of assuming he didn't, instead of letting her past relationships say that he was the same as the others… Holding his actions with near suspicion, and essentially ignoring his efforts to _show_ he cared because words were never his strong suit, that must have been frustrating for him to deal with. She was surprised he kept trying for so long.

"Aracelis." His voice snapped her out of her thoughts again. She smiled awkwardly as he stared at her quizzically. How much had she been emoting to earn that look?

"Oh, um, yeah. That's fine." Not only would he be nearby, and not off on some adventure around Las Noches, he pretty much promised that he would be back to just lay around with her until she decided it was time to pester Orihime. "Go take a shower, Ulquiorra. I'll be okay; I've calmed down a lot already. I just wanted stay like this for a bit more, because I like being near you." Her quick rambling words, they made his eyes soften some, some of the sadness melt away. Seeing that made her lips twitch to form a subtle smile. Her talking like she usually did, she felt like it had made cheered him up because he didn't have to worry about her anymore. "Ulquiorra," she said, catching his sleeve as he turned. He stopped, looking back at her expectantly. She quickly moved back in front of him before leaning forward, her lips pressed against his lightly for a brief second. She might be reluctant, if a bit scared, to say it, but she could still try to show him that she loved him.

He stared at her wordlessly. She wanted to understand why he thought that her being affectionate towards him was so strange, because he never seemed quite sure how to react- even when he initiated the action. After giving a flicker of a smile, she moved out of his way, flopping back into bed. His attention remained on her for a few moments before he began walking again.

* * *

 **A/N- Not much to say, just a lot of thoughts spinning around this chapter. Aracelis is getting closer to figuring out what Mirro is, and certainly will be fighting against believing anything he says for now on. Also, since its been a time, the memory of 'her' seeing herself is in ch8. She knows what to look out for now, too, when she's having all these negative thoughts pop into her head. After her little revelations, she definitely more geared towards helping Ulquiorra now, since he's been trying his best- and she's been almost ignoring it by dismissing everything as her imagination. Ulquiorra needs all the help he can get right now. Two/three chapters now while Ichigo and co. are in the forest; then the fun with the intruders in Las Noches begins for real!**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to Queen of Britannia, thedarkcataclysm, DemonicEmperor, and natzai118 for favoriting and following!**

 **haipa-chan- Thank you for all of that review, wow! I'm glad that last chapter had you so impressed because I've been waiting to reveal it** _ **for so very long**_ **. And Clematis, when I introduced the weed 20 chapters ago I commented in the author's notes that I needed a pawn- and then came up with the last two chapters soon after and have been wanting to type it so bad. I love planning and foreshadowing and all that so much~ I'm glad revealing their pasts ended up being more realistic this way, because I wanted it to be different from other stories; so I weaponized memories through Clematis. And I love that you simultaneously like the development/placement of Clematis while hating her. With both their pasts, I'm happy to hear that it explained their current personalities more, because it gave reason to some of their more unreasonable traits and actions- I wanted to give them a chance to grow from the past, like Aracelis this chapter. Dealing with the past 'alone and together,' I like that phrasing you used because it most definitely is how it would go down. The aftermath isn't finished, and that phrase will still be in play for sure. A critical point in this story, as well as the canon, its important, and I'm glad it turned out well thus far. Just, thank you so much for all the appreciation and love in the last review!**


	36. Chapter 36- Conversation

Aracelis let out a sigh, reluctantly releasing him from her arms. He did the same, already knowing that she had decided it was time to go pester Orihime.

For the last hour, after he had returned from his shower and changed clothes again, he laid down on the bed with her without a hint of protest. In fact, he had wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer while she was still distracted by him willingly joining her without her having to convince him. She ended up with her head under his chin- strategic on his part, assuming he was avoiding her gaze so he could think without her seeing any expressions he made. Their limbs were a tangled mess as they tried to hold onto each other while still laying on their sides, protruding mask remnants not helping matters. No matter how awkward the positioning, neither had moved to give up on embracing the other. Ulquiorra remained as stiff as a board, and felt like an ice block, but he had placed one hand on the back of her head, occasionally messing with her hair. Before she had nodded off, she had been rubbing his back in small circles so she didn't 'scare' him away with the affection. Neither spoke the entire time; they merely took solace in each other's presence. It only cemented Aracelis's feeling that something was troubling him.

That had to come to end eventually, of course. Ulquiorra, she thought he probably needed some alone time to sort through his own thoughts since he wasn't ready to discuss anything. A few hours and then maybe, just maybe, he might share some of what had been bothering him. She hoped. If he did, and if she knew what had happened, then it might be easier to help him feel better. Her attempt at comforting him just by contact, she wasn't sure how effective it had been. She wanted to see if she could find a way to talk to him. If he started the conversation, things would definitely be easier.

Ulquiorra got up first, immediately setting to work on adjusting his clothes. Couldn't have his coattails wrinkled; that would be against his very nature. She watched for a second before smiling to herself as she got up to fix her own shirt. She was back to mentally calling him 'cute' for his little quirks.

Honestly, she felt a lot better now. Not as anxious about making some catastrophic mistake enough to make him hate her, or as doubtful that he cared about her. She certainly knew she loved him- which might be the cause of her current mood. Felt like she'd fallen for him all over again. Incessant worrying had hazed over the euphoria of the silly emotion. She'd probably relapse the moment she got stressed again, but, for right now, she was enjoying herself. It helped that instinct stayed away for the last hour. That let her be cheerful _and_ consider what the hell the voice actually was. Still no breakthrough on that, but she had a few questions she hoped Ulquiorra could answer for her later.

When he took a step closer to her, she glanced away from the hem of her shirt to his face. She smiled again when he flipped a strand of her hair back into place. So meticulous. Now that they were both in what he deemed presentable condition, he walked past her, arm brushing hers as he went to fetch their swords from the desk. His concept of personal space had really changed, she noted. He no longer stood at such a great distance, nor avoided touching her at all costs. Before he could escape the room entirely, she caught up to his side, following him into the hall.

The trip to Orihime's remained in a comfortable silence.

She concentrated on finding where the humans had ended up. Ever so faintly, she finally pinpointed them as being in a section of the Menos Forest. How they ended up there was anyone's guess. Aisslinger and Demoura had been slain, their energy no longer in existence. Somehow the humans had escaped being crushed by the room. If she wasn't mistaken, a few more had joined their ranks as well- soul reapers this time. Too far to tell which ones, but presumably they were more friends of Orihime's. That could be the information she exchanged in return for Orihime's assistance.

Upon reaching the door, Ulquiorra pushed it to the side for her. She would have struggled with how her shoulder still ached dully- he must have noticed her right arm had not been holding him as tight as usual. She stepped inside the new room- which, unsurprisingly looked exactly the same- so he could close the door behind her. He kept his promise, Aracelis sensing him move out of earshot to afford her some privacy.

Orihime stared back at her with wide eyes, wringing her hands together in her lap as she sat on the couch. She had changed her clothes- another uniform had been brought to her considering the first must have been blown apart with the rest of her previous cell. Same style though. The Arrancar uniform… It didn't suit the human girl. Too white and clean and, well, boring. She looked pale. Her eyes had dark circles under them too, like she hadn't been sleeping. Aracelis could understand that, as Las Noches was a strange place filled with hostile monsters. Still, the girl might get sick if she kept it up. The exhaustion and stress caused by being dragged from the Soul Society to the Land of the Living and then to Hueco Mundo, and then being attacked by Clematis, it wore the human down immensely judging her appearance. Couldn't have her dying, though. No, that would go against Aizen's orders.

Aracelis had brilliant way to begin her conversation.

"So, I see you're alive still. That's, ah, pretty impressive." Orihime looked at her like she was completely insane. Girl didn't look as fearful, at least. "Just so you know, I, um, didn't mean to try to kill you or anything. That… that had been an accident?" Could attempted murder be called an accident? She had no idea why that had happened, honestly. Instinct choosing Orihime to target instead of Clematis didn't make sense to her. "Feeling better now, so on the off chance that happens again, Ulquiorra's still nearby."

"Okay," Orihime answered hesitantly, still appearing quite suspicious.

"I have a few questions." Aracelis made an effort to walk slowly as not to startle Orihime. Maybe her spiritual pressure was bothering her, setting the human on edge even if it wasn't meant as a threat display. And, well, who would believe an Arrancar telling you they won't attack you again? You'd have to be an idiot to trust a hollow. Once she made it the other side of the couch, sitting as far away as possible, she continued. "Ulquiorra wouldn't tell me what happened after Clematis had grabbed me. I understand he's likely told you to refrain from sharing certain details, so just tell me anything you can."

Orihime nodded, gathering her thoughts first. "Clematis had slammed you into the ground until you fell unconscious. She stabbed you through your stomach, and then went to slam you into the floor again. Ulquiorra went to free you, but he ended up tangled in her vines too after tossing you away. She used her ability on him. I had tried to get loose, but Clematis noticed. She told me to –"

Aracelis's eyes went wide as her spiritual pressure tried to shrink away to return to absorbing energy. Orihime caught the change too, her eyes widening in panic again.

' _Another word from her, and I'm not staying quiet.'_

"Stop," Aracelis ordered immediately. Damn instinct... Before the fluctuation called in Ulquiorra, she settled with the stupid voice's demands. "Don't say anything about what Clematis said to me." Damn thing just had to wake up now. Probably because she wasn't hanging off of Ulquiorra anymore. Stupid thing still hated them being affectionate. Of course, it also knew Ulquiorra wouldn't tell her anything, but the human would totally reveal all of its precious secrets. The second she entered the room, she felt a bit unsteady to the point she wanted to sit down. Well, it was just instinct throwing a hissy fit after being woken up from its nap.

"O-okay." Orihime shifted nervously before starting again. "Once Clematis let go of Ulquiorra, you started attacking me. He stabbed your shoulder until you fell unconscious again."

Not helpful. Okay, it sort of was because she knew that Clematis had said _something_ that instinct didn't want her to know. It likely led to instinct targeting Orihime, allowing Clematis to make her escape. It also explained why her shoulder still hurt. Ulquiorra likely used his sword too, considering the wound hadn't been a gaping hole like his hand would make. She probably wouldn't be walking around so easily if he had done that. "How was he acting?"

Orihime frowned in confusion before finally asking, "You mean Ulquiorra?"

"Yeah. I thought 'he' would get that across." Ulquiorra had been the only male around to her knowledge. Unless Orihime was referring to instinct for some reason. Which would make a vague amount of sense. She'd heard an unexplained masculine voice in her head before. Might explain why instinct hated her naughty thoughts about Ulquiorra and its love for comparing breast sizes too- it always had been rather perverted. Gross. "How was Ulquiorra acting during this all?" She had hints to deal with instinct, but none for Ulquiorra yet.

"I…" Orihime trailed off, eyes on her hands as she continued fidgeting nervously. If she had seen something, Ulquiorra must have told her to be quiet about it. When Orihime turned her attention back on Aracelis, the girl had a frightening look of determination on her face. "Aracelis, do you love Ulquiorra?"

Dumbfounded didn't begin to cover how Aracelis felt. She opened her mouth, no response forming; just some embarrassing sputtering. Finally she snapped her mouth closed, crossing her arms over her chest to hopefully appearing annoyed and not defensive. She took a few moments to find words to play off the accusation that came from _nowhere._ "W-what are you talking about? I said that I didn't love anybody. That I'd been asking questions is all." Orihime looked back at her, not interrupting, but also not buying a single word she said. The girl appeared to be patiently waiting for the truth to come out. "What did Clematis show you?" Logically, the weed would have spouted something like that off because that's what she did. She shared private information with anyone that could hear.

"No! No, she didn't show me anything," she shouted out, waving her hands in front of her. The panic in her voice… Clematis had shown her something. Might not be that Aracelis loved Ulquiorra, but _something_. The only one probably willing to share what that was, was unfortunately the weed. "I figured it out on my own."

Aracelis gave up, leaning back to stare at the ceiling in defeat. Girl wouldn't lie. If Clematis had been involved in revealing her poorly kept secret, Orihime wouldn't have said she figured it out on her own. Nope, Aracelis knew it had been her fault. "I can't keep anything a secret." She wondered if he'd be upset that the human knew too. Orihime was rather harmless though. He… he didn't get too upset that Grimmjow figured out they were a thing, so…

"Don't worry," Orihime quickly said, "I actually got the impression from Ulquiorra that you two were together, and I just wanted to know if that's why you'd been asking me about love. It's just knowing that, maybe I can answer your other questions, or-"

"You're absolutely insane, you know? Offering to help me still…" Seriously, the girl was nuts. Too helpful for her own good, ignoring the boundaries between enemy and friend if it meant making others happy. She seemed to ignore her own wellbeing when it came to helping others- she did come to Hueco Mundo alone after all. Aracelis, she understood that better than she cared to admit, although she was only helpful towards one person. Not enemies. "I don't know whether to believe you or not, either. What the hell did Ulquiorra do to give you that impression?" Her panic, it had been about some other bit of information the weed disclosed. Likely something Ulquiorra told her to keep silent about or face his wrath. She found it odd that it wasn't the fact they were 'together,' though. He hated that secret being exposed.

"After Clematis ran away, he had immediately picked you up and held you. Whenever he looked at you, I'm sure I saw his expression soften. He treated you more gently than… than I believed someone like him capable of," she said with a touch of guilt, like doubting people made her some sort of monster. At least she was honest. Ulquiorra didn't give off the impression of someone that had friends. Just a cold wall indifferent to the world and everyone in it. Aracelis never expected him to be the one to break the façade while in front of others. He definitely hadn't been acting as his rational self. Whatever Clematis had shown him paired with worrying about her being injured, it had gotten to him.

"I tried asking and he refused to say anything," Orihime added with the tiniest frown of annoyance. The old, 'I'm not answering because you're right and I'm not about to admit it.' Aracelis's favorite. For Orihime to try asking anything, though, she had some serious guts. "But you two, I could see you had a bond even if he tried to deny it. I then thought since you'd asked me all of those questions about love, that maybe he was the one you had been talking about. You do, right?"

"Y-yeah," she mumbled, eyes on the floor as she felt her face heat up with embarrassment. Didn't matter if it was the truth, a hollow shouldn't be so open about having such human emotions. It bothered her to admit it, but it needed to be done. No progress would be made otherwise. "I… I can't really tell if he… you know. He's not exactly open about how he feels, and his minimal reactions don't help much. How indifferent he acts doesn't help either. Sometimes it's like I'm talking to a damn wall." She had no idea how much she wanted to vent all her pent up frustrations about him. Kind of nice having another person to force to listen instead of trying to yell at Ulquiorra for all of his annoying habits.

"I can't tell you how he actually feels, since I don't really know him, but he appears to care for you," Orihime offered, the best comfort the girl had for her.

"I… I know." He might show it in particularly strange ways sometimes, but he did. He cared more than she had originally thought. She didn't doubt that anymore. "It's just," she pouted, glaring at the ground. "You've talked to him, or _at_ him. You've seen how he is. Talking about stupid _feelings_ and _emotions_ is like dancing around a minefield!" She threw her hands up. "One wrong thing and off he walks! Or better, he just ends the discussion with silence!" After huffing in annoyance, she lowered her arms to cross them over her chest again. "And… and he sort of ordered when we started this 'relationship' that there would be no discussing it," she quietly admitted. "I had agreed but now I want to tell him that I… you know…"

"You're scared," Orihime finished the thought. Aracelis turned her attention back on the girl, who had now hung her head sadly, her eyes focused on her lap. "You don't know how he will react, and you don't want him to leave because even your current situation is better than him being gone. Because keeping your friendship is more important than how you feel."

"That come from experience?"

Orihime nodded solemnly before looking back up at her with determination. "But I think you should at least try talking with him about it. I think Ulquiorra would listen to how you feel." The confidence in those words made Aracelis raise an eyebrow. Orihime herself apparently refused to tell Ichigo how she felt, but her advice was to do the exact opposite of her. That was probably why she said to do it, though, because _not_ talking hadn't gotten her anywhere. "He cares about you. Because of that, I think that since not talking about it is bothering you, he'll at least listen. He wouldn't want you to be sad if he loves you too."

"You're very… optimistic." Otherwise what she would call naïve, if not stupid. She was right though. A few hours ago, she decided that if she did ask to discuss their relationship, he would at least listen to what she had to say. He cared about how she felt, going as far as letting her do almost whatever she pleased to placate her. Having someone agree with what she wanted to try made it easier to believe this was the correct decision. Still… He was pretty damn intimidating. The prospect of being turned down worried her as well- she could not escape that weird fear he might reject her entirely, even if he was more likely to just ignore her.

She stood up abruptly, making Orihime's head jerk to keep looking at her. Luckily Orihime missed her swaying, about to fall back over with the sudden vertigo she felt. Instinct... "Been nice chatting with you." Ulquiorra was still waiting outside, and she didn't want to waste his time. She got the information she needed, for the most part, so she didn't need to stay longer than she already had. Orihime stared back at her with eyes nearly begging her to stay- she wanted company, even if it came from a hollow that had tried to attack her a few hours earlier. She must have some information about instinct to be _this_ trusting that Aracelis wouldn't harm her. "You should sleep for a while; you look like a wreck." As she began walking back to the door she noticed an untouched meal on the small table off to the side. "Eat something too. Keep this up and Ulquiorra's bound to get angry with you." No response. She shrugged, not wanting to force the issue herself- Ulquiorra could do that, since he was already on the girl's bad side. She'd warned her. If Orihime chose to do otherwise, the consequences were hers to deal with. "Oh, and since you answered my questions, I have a bit of information about your friends for you."

"What is it?" she quickly asked, but her voice remaining meek. She was unsure if she wanted to hear, but also curious at the same time.

"Don't know why or how, but they moved away from Las Noches to a place called the Menos Forest. Two others joined them; soul reapers I believe, unless they are just more oddities like Ichigo. They all seem to be fine at the moment."

"Thank goodness," Orihime said under breath, already being absorbed into her own thoughts. Maybe she was trying to identify which of her friends had shown up; Aracelis doubted she could do that at this distance, though. That wouldn't stop the concerned human girl from trying.

Aracelis lost interest, walking towards the door again in hopes Ulquiorra would open it for her. The way her vision spun in nauseating waves with each step, she knew she needed to go lay down. Otherwise she would be taking a nap on the floor, adding to Ulquiorra's stress. Perhaps instinct had been asleep before, recovering from the damage, and now woke up to force her to rest to recover completely. That bastard, it took extreme caution whenever she was even slightly injured and had expended a decent amount of spiritual pressure. Stupid, inconvenient tag-along, trying to order her around while preventing her from doing what she wanted. Orihime knew a lot more than instinct allowed her to ask.

The door opening in front of her made her let out a small sigh of relief. Then she began snickering to herself, earning a curious look from Ulquiorra. As soon as the door was closed behind her, she teased him. "Such a gentleman, opening doors." 'For your 'lady friend' she mentally finished. He stared at her for a second before closing his eyes at her strange humor. She would have to keep pretending she wasn't one wrong step away from fainting.

Just as she opened her mouth to say something, she stumbled a step backwards- if she had a heart it would leapt into her throat. Ulquiorra grabbed her wrist to keep her from face diving into the ground. The moment she had regained enough balance to keep on her feet, she glared at the servant vacantly staring at her theatrics. Standing far off to the side was the servant with their lower face covered in a mask, a notebook held open in front of them. She hadn't been paying attention, not expecting anyone else to be around. Didn't help that instinct was screwing with her senses…

The familiarity of her senses malfunctioning. Damn. Yet another major issue instinct had played a part in.

"You are dismissed," Ulquiorra's flat voice said from beside her, drawing her attention back to him. Even in front of the servant, he didn't immediately drop her wrist. Did… did they already know, so he saw no point in pretending otherwise? She nearly wanted to smack herself when she saw their reaming wounds still in the process of healing. Clematis, her vines left that pattern of cuts and bruising. She'd been gathering information for a while now. Preparing for an opportunity to accomplish whatever harebrained goal she had. Aizen's timing for that meeting couldn't have been worse. If she wanted- and she did- she could blame the prick for letting this happen. Clematis only made her move because he had called Ulquiorra away.

The servant bowed politely before turning on their heel to fast-walk away. They knew better than to stick around when Aracelis and Ulquiorra were annoyed.

"What was that about?" she asked, not able to contain her curiosity. The two of the them had been discussing something judging by the amount of scribbling she'd seen on the mute servant's notebook. She had been wondering how they communicated, the obvious answer too obvious for her to guess.

"The human girl refuses to eat," Ulquiorra stated before changing the subject. "You are off balance."

"Yeah, I… I need to go lay down is all." So much for avoiding him noticing. "I'll be fine. I guess I was more tired than I realized." She wanted the topic off of her right now, but what else to say… "Oh, yeah, um, I noticed she must not be sleeping either. It's going to be a problem soon, huh?"

His only response to her panicky need to change topics was to stare at her blankly. When he turned away, pulling her along to follow him, she saw it as him allowing the subject to be dropped. "Did you learn what you wished from the woman?"

"For the most part. Thank you for letting me talk to her again." He only glanced at her from the corner of his eye to acknowledge her gratitude. "You know," she began, swinging her arm as much as she dared without throwing herself off balance, "I don't mind you holding onto me Ulquiorra, but this vice grip business is a bit much." Firmly dragging her along like a misbehaving child wasn't exactly the ideal. He loosened his hold, not giving any comment. Surprised he didn't drop her wrist, she smiled, staying quiet as they walked.

"Ulquiorra," she began again as they reached the floor their room was on. "After I sleep for a while, I have a couple of questions to ask you."

"Dependent on the question, I may answer."

"Jerk," she muttered, shaking her head. Like she didn't already know he would avoid answering things. "Seriously, though, it's something important." Instinct, she intended on asking him what he knew of it, or at least gather a bit more information to further piece together what the voice exactly was on her own. If that didn't end in them arguing, and if he seemed like he was in a better mood, then maybe she would try bringing up the topic of their relationship. Or what had upset him so much earlier. Right now, she could tell from his earlier grip that he was still quite tense and on edge. For him to be so annoyed by every little thing… She wanted to know what Clematis had shown him. That stupid curiosity kept nagging at her even if she knew asking would be akin to antagonizing him.

"Hm," was he response. Funnily, it was more than he usually gave, which showed he had taken notice of the importance of her request. Ignoring her completely, letting her assume whether he heard or not, it would upset her. He tried to avoid that.

He didn't speak again until she was stepping into their room, already noticing he didn't intend to follow. "I will be back later," he said purely out of politeness- verbally telling her what she would have figured out eventually, it was a strange form of curtesy to her. The second she muttered an 'okay' he turned on his heel to walk off.

She noticed that he still had her sword. Being that he wasn't likely to forget he was carrying around something, he had taken it on purpose. While instinct had been in control, in order to earn this amount of caution from Ulquiorra, it had done more than just swing her sword around. No, it must have tried entering her resurrección. How desperate had it been to kill Orihime and why? That timid human with healing abilities didn't warrant the over the top reaction of using her sword release, even if Ulquiorra had stepped in.

As she let herself fall onto the bed, she knew that she had a lot to consider before Ulquiorra returned.

* * *

Ulquiorra continued down the hall, on his way back to their room after having aimlessly wandered around for a few hours in a vain attempt to regain control of himself. That ridiculous _sadness_ that had been an aftereffect of reliving the human's memories, that had waned, but it left him irrationally irritated. The fact he felt so annoyed only annoyed him more. Most of the irritation stemmed from his distaste for his own pathetic reaction to Clematis's silly attempt to mentally traumatize him, but there were a few other things that didn't improve his mood.

Orihime was one. The girl, she may have kept from telling Aracelis what she knew, but this hunger strike would not be allowed to continue for much longer. The servants in charge of feeing her reported that she hadn't eaten anything since her arrival in Las Noches, and drank a minimal amount of water. Staying alive was her duty to Aizen- and if she failed to do that, then Ulquiorra failed his task as well. A few more days, and if she still did not break her fast, he would be force feeding her if that's what it took. Bothersome human…

Aracelis, she was another thing bothering him. Trying to cover up the obvious fact she was seconds away from collapsing like he wouldn't notice… Mirro had either been seeking to prevent her from asking the woman about what had transpired, or he had been attempting to make her pass out to take control to attempt to kill Orihime once more. He hadn't missed the change in her spiritual pressure earlier- he only allowed her to stay because she immediately regained control. _Worrying_ about her continued to annoy him. But, with every additional fact he learned about Mirro, his concern intensified to leave behind that annoyance… Above all, he wanted her safe. This onslaught of foreign emotions was more tolerable than her being injured.

The other minor irritant was simply that he felt cold. Physically, he felt freezing cold to the point it bothered even him. In all likelihood, it was related to that human's memories of nearly dying of hypothermia and later the combination of blood loss and numbing rain- Clematis's ability had been able to replicate it to a degree. Admittedly, he did have streaks of being uncomfortably cold before this as well, but a shower typically solved the issue. This time, however, he would have to resort to something else since his usual methods had failed him. Only one other thing managed to get him warm quickly… Even if he wasn't exactly in the mood for fooling around with Aracelis, it would at least help him get rid of this absurd chill he had. She seemed to treat it as a way to relieve stress, so perhaps it work for him as well. He doubted it, but anything for a distraction. Unless she didn't, in which case he would be needing to find something else to occupy himself with.

Upon arriving in their room, he found the bed an empty mess of blankets and pillows. He could hear the shower running. She had finally gone to wash herself. He had considered ordering her to do so earlier, as she had still faintly smelled of blood. Merely using a damp towel had not removed all the grim caked to her skin. Choosing to take a shower rather than leaving the room, obviously Mirro hadn't taken over while she was asleep. She must be able to stand without dizziness now as well. Catching her now, he had good timing.

As soon as he opened the bathroom door, not trying to be quiet, he heard her sigh heavily. "Ulquiorra, I swear," she grumbled. "Just barging in whenever you want." He imagined she was pouting as well. Apparently, even when he did not attempt to hide his entrance, he scared her when he walked into the room while she was showering. The first time she had slipped, which was wholly amusing to him because hurting herself hadn't been a concern- in fact, she had smashed her mask into the marble and had chipped the stone. She had been horribly embarrassed as well, both by her clumsiness and being unclothed- he hadn't enjoyed the mortified look she had. Her strange sense of modesty; he'd seen her undressed, so why continue to be uncomfortable about it? "Can we talk when I get dressed? I'll be done soon." As he expected; she wouldn't want to discuss what she deemed an important manner while naked.

She returned to ignoring him when he didn't answer, interpreting his silence as acceptance of her terms. He set their swords on the counter before shrugging off his shirt. "Are you staying?" she asked, sounding bother curious and suspicious, her having heard his shirt zipper being undone. After undressing the rest of the way and placing his clothes on the counter- as well as picking Aracelis's abandoned clothes off of the floor- he stepped into the shower with her. Her face was already dark red, her arm held over her chest. 'It's different' she had told him before when he questioned why she would bother covering herself still. After a second she rolled her eyes at him. She did it again, this time more dramatically, when he changed the water temperature to what was nearing scalding- it's not like it would burn either of them; even her skin wasn't that weak.

As her lips began to form the word 'what,' he closed the small gap between them to press his lips to hers. For a second she didn't respond to his lips moving against hers, but after an annoyed growl she flung her arms around him to pull herself closer.

After a few minutes, he felt his brow twitching to form a frustrated frown. No matter how much he tried to force himself to focus on feeling over her body and his lips on her skin, it didn't help. He still felt annoyed. He still felt cold. His body didn't react to her touch at all. For once, he didn't want to feel indifferent towards having sex with her. Of course, the one time he wanted to lose control in this manner, it wouldn't work.

"Ulquiorra," she said softly as they parted to breath. "Do you want to continue or can we stop here?"

He let out a small, defeated sigh. "Is my mood that obvious to you?" Earlier, she had been attempting to comfort him despite the fact he was attempting to provide such to her- as she was the one who needed it. Stubbornly she kept trying. Even though she had shown concern and curiosity towards the fact he had something on his mind, she stopped asking because he refused to tell her. No matter how hard he tried to avoid having her notice his mood, she had known from the moment she had woken up. Hiding how he felt, it was becoming a pointless effort.

"No, it never is with you," she sighed before leaning forward rest her forehead on his shoulder. "I guess your mood most of the time. Earlier you'd seemed depressed, but now you sort of seem pissed off. You're… I don't know… Tense? Stressed? Fooling around, it might momentarily distract you from whatever you're considering, but afterwards you always seem to get even more stressed. I mean, if you still want to, I will, but-"

"Aracelis," he said to break up her rambling. She was correct, although she exaggerated his mood. Annoyed and 'pissed off' were two very different things. It seemed a lie that she guessed how he felt at any given time, though, considering her accuracy. She was too afraid of misinterpreting something that it kept her from admitting she could read his moods incredibly well. She knew his habits and expressions better than anyone else after all. Even lacking observation skills like she did, she constantly put effort into trying to understand how he felt. No one else was as persistent, or patient, with him as her. He didn't want her to continue assuming she was wrong. "How did you conclude my mood?"

"I told you," she mumbled, voice taking on an edge. Did she fear he would be upset by her assumptions? "I guessed. I got lucky, is all."

"That was no mere guess. I only wish to know how you arrived at your conclusion." When she still didn't answer, he gave up. "You were correct".

Her head shot up to look at him. "I… I was right? About both?" She stared at him in shock when he nodded slightly.

"I would not use words as extreme as you had," he added, not about to let her believe he had been in that much turmoil- even if 'turmoil' would be an apt description for the amount of confusion he was in.

"You were really quiet, and didn't want to leave me alone. I mean, you didn't even go shower right away. I know you hate being dirty," she said with a slight laugh. That must have been why she seemed absolutely stunned. She had assumed he had been able to leave her alone, that his concern hadn't distracted him from one of his habits. "You avoided eye contact a few times. You were being oddly nice, which you also had done after testing Segunda Etapa on me. I… I guess your eyes looked sad too, although I can't really describe how because the rest of your face didn't have much expression. In the very least I knew you were really confused and upset looking." She paused for a second, looking past him. "And when you came in here, I knew you have been either looking for a distraction or bored. Between when I went to sleep and woke up, you had wandered around most of the tower. Your kissing was a bit more needy than usual, but you, um…" her eyes flickered downward, her face getting quite red when she caught herself. "You didn't really seem into it, yet kept kissing me. Not typical behavior from you. Considering what happened earlier with what weed-face had done, as well as Orihime not being a good prisoner, I assumed you had to be quite annoyed at this point."

"Why did you say you guessed when you obviously analyzed my behavior?" She had all of this, yet she chose to say she 'guessed.' Her hesitance was unwarranted. He wanted her to see that.

"I… I thought maybe I'd imagined it. Or I was overthinking," she said quietly. "I mean, you… You usually don't react to anything. Because of the memories Clematis showed me, I thought maybe I was assuming you would react similarly, which would be wrong. And I really wasn't sure what to say because you still seemed upset hours later even after I had calmed down."

"You are more emotional." He made sure not to lose her attention before finishing by moving his hand under her chin. "The human memories, you were better able to cope with the emotions because you, even as a hollow, hold an understanding of them." She may have initially been overwhelmed, but she knew how to identify how she felt, and how to cope. "Your reaction made sense given your nature." She had asked the woman, undoubtedly, if Clematis had used her ability on him. He had not restricted the girl from sharing as much. Might as well tell Aracelis to perhaps appease her concerns for a time. "The memories I had been shown were vastly different from my mindset to the point I did not understand. The emotions were foreign and conflicting." A partial lie. He could recognize some; he agreed with some to a degree. No one would be knowing that, though. He would take the fact he and that human had similarities to his grave. "I was forced to pick apart what was my reaction and which was that human's. I found the process irritating."

"Were your memories bad ones?" she asked, completely glazing over the point of the conversation. When it became apparent he wouldn't be answering she gave up, appearing disappointed he wouldn't share anything while she had shared some of hers. "Thanks for telling me that much, though. It helps, because it's really hard to see what specifically is going on in your head most of the time. I just get a few reactions and expressions that I don't know how to interpret with one-hundred percent accuracy, which worries me. I don't want to say something wrong and upset you more."

She glanced away again, mulling over her next words. "I know that some of this actually stems from my human past, so I'm going to try to stop being so… scared… of being wrong. You wouldn't hurt me." He felt his chest seemingly tighten at that. He scared her, even if she said he was different, because he reminded her of that human garbage in her past. "You're helping, too, by pointing some these stupid fears I have and trying to get me to see what's going on. There's, ah, one other thing you could do to help, if you're willing," she muttered, nerves showing through in her last sentence. She bit her lip as she paused, moving her hand to lightly grasp at his wrist. "I… I know that you don't want to talk about this, but I just… I have an irrational fear that you might toss me away once you get bored of me." Her voice had become a whisper about to crack with barely restrained sadness. He couldn't tell if she had shed a few tears or if it had been water; both were equally likely. To force out her honest fear, it took her a lot of effort. Him leaving her, this prospect terrified her still. He… he understood that, which startled him. A sense of abandonment, that had been very prevalent in his human memories as well. And his hollow memories. The feeling, it was empathy for her. "So I just… I want to know what… What you think of me as. Am I just something expendable to you? This relationship entertainment? Do I… Do I mean anything to you?"

He stayed quiet for a second, trying to think. Staying silent for too long, though, would give her the impression he was either lying or didn't care enough to answer. That would potentially break her. But this question seemed unanswerable. He had tried again and again to decide what she meant to him. The words humans used involved having a heart. He didn't. He had no idea what he felt towards her because he did not have a heart. He simply didn't. He couldn't. That would not change no matter how important she was to him.

"I… I in the very least consider you a friend," he said, not finding other words to quickly string together in some semblance of truth. Only she could make him feel so absurdly panicked by asking a single question. But this he knew. In the very least he thought of her as a friend and ally. He had for quite some time, even if he tried to deny their close bond. He cared about her- perhaps nearing how she seemed to care for him. "I would prefer to stay in your company as long as you wish."

"Really?" She gave a small smile. Calling her a friend, that's all it took to meet her low expectations of him. "You think of me as a friend? I never thought I'd hear you say that so sincerely… since every other time you've said 'friend' you've sounded suspicious, if not a bit disgusted, by the concept." That struck him because he automatically knew he'd caused some of her hesitancy. She had called him her friend before, yet every time he spoke the word he made it seem like he was repulsed by the idea- and, by default, Aracelis for considering him such. "I wasn't sure if that was you just being annoyed by the humans constantly doing strange things in the name of friendship, or if you thought the entire idea was stupid. I didn't think you'd say you were my friend, even if I really should have seen that already." At least she had noticed he treated her as such- she had a habit of taking his words so seriously that actions were forgotten, which was not helpful considering he acted more than spoke.

"Is this the important matter you wished to discuss?" he asked following a few minutes of her happily smiling to herself. He had expected she would ask something like this the moment she said 'important.' Her priorities tended to skew towards confirming that he did, in fact, like her.

"Nope."

Her answer almost made him raise an eyebrow.

"I mean, this entire conversation has been very important to me." The soft smile she gave expressed that this meant everything to her. She had wanted more openness, and miraculously she got it. He… he didn't think telling her things was as bad as he had thought, either. "It's just not what I mentioned earlier. I'd wanted to talk to you about all of this, just essentially in the opposite order, since it's something, I don't know, risky?" He discovered he had absolutely no idea what she wanted. Risky? Did she not consider this conversation 'risky?' Instead it was a question unrelated to their relationship. How… curious. "Can we talk after we get dressed, though? This is… awkward." She pressed her lips together, glancing off to the side again. He barely remembered they were in the shower, but of course she would. To keep from getting flustered by carrying on a conversation completely nude, she hadn't been able to look at the ground the entire time. "And, even if it's not something I want to talk about right now 'cause it will ruin the mood, this might be the best opportunity I get," she added as an afterthought.

As he turned around to get out of the shower and turn off the water, she freed his wrist. She stayed behind, most likely intending to wait until he left the room to dry off. Instead, when she peeked out to see what was taking so long for him to leave, he nailed her in the face with a towel. She tried to hold back from giggling, but the snickering that escaped made it obvious she thought it was hilarious; his attempt at humor had elicited some cheerfulness out of her. She had been very concerned with what would be discussed next, so, before adding to each other's stress once more, he figured he should try doing something. Her laughter relaxed him some too, bizarrely. He didn't feel as cold now, either, that issue solved at some point during their conversation. After he redressed himself and returned their swords to his sash, he handed Aracelis her clothes before stepping out to give her her apparently necessary privacy.

Once Aracelis emerged from the bathroom fully clothed, it became apparent that she felt anxious. She had her arms crossed over her chest, lips pursed, and eyes narrowed suspiciously as she appeared to listen for something for a few moments. After stepping within arm's reach of him, she bit her lip, glancing at her sword and then the desk where the drawing he had given her rested.

"I'll start with when I first noticed something," she began, voice not as hesitant as it had been earlier. A topic not involving feelings, then. She could be reasonably confident when speaking about things besides their relationship. "After using Segunda Etapa on me, I noticed that you had been acting different. I don't know entirely what happened while I was passed out, but I know you ended up stabbing me to get me to stop. I-"

"If you knew, why did you not mention it sooner than this?" he interrupted despite himself. His question certainly came out as demanding as well. It upset him that she would excuse him punching a hole through her for any reason. If she already knew this, then she may have connected her most recent shoulder injury to him as well. She hadn't mentioned it either.

"I…" He'd taken her off guard, so she paused to gather a response. "It seemed like you regretted it. A lot. I didn't want to mention it because I didn't want to upset you more by needlessly talking about it. I wanted to wait until I knew why." She waited, staring back at him patiently as he took in her words. 'Until I knew why.' Those words scared him. If she knew about Mirro, would he allow her to live or double his efforts to kill her? How much had she figured out? How much danger was she now in? He didn't want to accidentally worsen the situation; he had to listen to what she had concluded before responding.

"I know something happened that caused you to attack, like I said right after it happened, but I didn't have any idea what until you told me what happened when we went to recruit those hollows," she continued. "I attacked you." The guilt for an action that wasn't hers remained. He… he should have lied and said she hadn't done that. He certainly wouldn't tell her the parasite had used her to attack him earlier, resulting in more injury than the other incident. "I probably did again after you showed me Segunda Etapa too. And _again_ , when I went after Orihime and then presumably you. Each time I had passed out after being overwhelmed by injuries. Each time… each time _I_ hadn't been in control." She shifted uncomfortably as she quietly stated, "There isn't something wrong with _me_. The reason I can't use my resurrección at will. The reason I can't always control my ability to draw in energy or release it. You said yourself that I could have been an Espada if _I_ had control."

He had nothing to say. She knew. She had some idea that she did not control her own abilities, but acted as a puppet at the parasite's command. It had only been a matter of time before she grew suspicious. How she hadn't sooner, with the creature speaking to her, had been a miracle of sorts. Still, even knowing that, he wished she hadn't figured it when he had no definitive way to help her. She had been correct; talking about this was risky.

"Ulquiorra, how would you define instinct?"

A seemingly random question. He would have never guessed that this was the 'important' question that she had for him, but he could tell she had given some thought to the exact thing she wanted to ask. "A natural, automatic response to a given situation. For hollows, many of our instincts are for prolonging our existences. The fear of the more powerful that drives us to flee until we can achieve such power would be one example of instinct."

Bizarrely, she chose to laugh a few times. "Yeah, I should have figured that out a lot sooner than I did. I can be really dense sometimes, you know?" She uncrossed her arms, pointing a finger at her skull. "I have a literal voice that tries to order me around under the guise of being 'instinct.' Had it as long as I've been a hollow. Usually it bothers me when I'm in battle or really scared and upset. Or being an idiot by its standards. Other times it just generally likes to be an asshole." The smile she gave was strained as she added, "It _really_ hates you. I mean, it doesn't like me most of the time either, but it absolutely despises you. And Clematis, too, but mainly you. So much so that every time we even look like we're going to have sex, it fades away for a time! Its hated you since I met you too!" She began pacing back and forth, her hands formed into tight fists at her sides. "Assuming it can take control of my body, or at least interrupt my control and regeneration while I'm awake, back then... When we'd been fighting each other, it saw that you were a lot stronger than me. It told me to run. I decided not to. It tried to kill me for it! And when I woke up it had been freaking out since we were surrounded and injured, but it didn't want to die!" She threw her arms up, teeth gritted and eyes narrowed. He felt himself frown as well, even if he already knew Mirro had caused her to fall onto her sword and make him believe he had killed her. It angered him still. It likely always would. "When we were fighting Ellzea and Clematis the first time, it was pissed that I got injured because I had been watching you, but it still wouldn't let _me_ use _my_ resurrección. When you showed us Segunda Etapa, it had been terrified of you, but it knew you were trying to force it out, so it wanted to let you tear me apart until you decided it was useless. It had been in more pain than I had been when you slashed open my shoulder, so it changed its mind," she growled. "And then going after Orihime for no reason! Every damn time I get hurt, it makes me pass out to take control of my damn body! That disgusting _thing_ uses me! I hate it!" Her spiritual pressure began to spike with her anger.

"Aracelis." Reacting too much, it might draw Mirro's attention.

Her eyes shot to him. Immediately she restrained her spiritual pressure. She began opening and closing her hands instead, trying to calm herself down. "I… I just figured this out a few hours ago," she mumbled. "I'm still upset. It's done and said a lot of things to me. I didn't expect it to be ignoring me right now, either, so I let my emotions run a bit wild." She took a deep breath before looking at him. "You've known something was wrong with me since coming back from that recruitment mission, if not before. Do you know what it is?"

He stared back, refusing to answer. He couldn't risk it. She might believe it to be ignoring her, but with its connection to her brain and her having figured out so much, Mirro might be monitoring her still. If she knew specifically what it was, it may decide to take its chances with killing her and fleeing. Having Ulquiorra after him was one issue; having his host _and_ Ulquiorra was another.

"Yes or no is fine. You've been avoiding telling me this for a reason, and I trust your judgment," she added.

"I do."

She nodded a couple of times. "I won't… I won't try to do anything myself. I don't understand what's going on, so if I tried to do anything I would most likely just injure myself and piss instinct off. You're trying to find a way to get rid of whatever it is, right?"

"Yes."

"I trust you. You're a lot smarter than me, so I know you can figure out how to best help me with whatever's going on."

Her hopeful smile felt like a slap to the face. His last and most viable plan had been thwarted by Clematis. Aracelis knowing as much as she now did, it might cause Mirro to take action. The war with the soul reapers was quickly approaching. He could not focus on Aracelis with the threat of Aizen punishing her for him shirking his duties.

"Oh!" Aracelis almost shouted in her excitement. "I forgot, I have one more thing to tell you. I don't know if it will help any, but I don't know if it's important or not, so I should tell you. Before even meeting Clematis, I remembered how I died as a human." He felt his eyes widen, unable to hide his surprise. No hollow should retain memories from that long ago, especially after evolving to the point she had. "I have a memory of seeing my human body on the ground after being struck by lightning. It almost looked like I was above it. I didn't see any chains, though, so I must have been alive still. A second later there was another flash of lightning with what looked like me getting closer to the body. I assume I died immediately after this memory took place. Can't have survived being struck twice."

His clenched his jaw tightly. For a second he lost control of his spiritual pressure, rage getting the better of him for once. Rage was the only word he could attach to the burning feeling he had at her story. That memory, it wasn't hers. It couldn't be. She had still been alive as a human. Seeing herself from above would have been impossible under the circumstances she described. The misplaced memory…

It was Mirro's.

He suspected that the creature had infected her as a human when she said she had enough spiritual power to see hollows, but suddenly lost the ability after being attacked. The bastard couldn't voluntarily leave her body unless she was near death. He had gotten trapped in her body when she refused to die. Perhaps as a human she had exhibited some of the strange abilities she had now. Absorbing just enough scraps of reishi to keep Mirro from starving completely, but not allowing the parasite to kill her and then leave. When she kept escaping death as a human living under the assumption she had bad luck, her luck was actually incredible. By all rights, she should have died long before reaching adulthood if Mirro had latched onto her as a child. Being struck by lightning must have weakened her enough that Mirro escaped momentarily to look down on her. Why he would then return after finally escaping, Ulquiorra didn't know. Mirro, he might have seen her ability as the perfect food source _if she was stronger._ If he waited, kept feeding off of her to remain alive and kept soul reapers from sending her soul to the Soul Society, he… He may have allowed her to hollowfy just because her ability was such a convenience. Mirro, he had ruined her human life and prevented her from any salvation her soul may have had in the Soul Society, just to use her as _food_. Her entire existence had been plagued by this trash. It infuriated him.

Why she had this memory, he didn't know that either. Their minds were connected, however, so it may be possible Mirro hadn't been able to control his own ability as they evolved in parallel. He may have inadvertently shared the memory with her. As she had gained power, so had Mirro. The reason she had been able to reach such heights in power and evolution, it had likely been because Mirro had been directing her towards that goal. While she was mindlessly consumed by hunger, Mirro decided what they should pursue. He located what souls would be most beneficial to him; and by default, Aracelis. But when she became an Arrancar, she gained more power than Mirro was capable of while still hidden inside her- she said she had pulled off her mask because of boredom; Mirro hadn't expected it. While they were both in pain from the transformation, Aizen happened upon them, so Mirro used it as an opportunity to try and prevent her from overpowering him. Aizen made her forget how to use her sword release because, at that point, she was likely the first Vasto Lorde he had encountered. Recruiting the two of them had been important at that time.

She disliked Mirro ordering her around, as it was hollow nature, _and_ her nature, to resent authority. The moment she had more strength, she stopped listening to him like a perfect puppet. She decided she didn't need him to make decisions for her any more. He couldn't take control of her while she was awake unless she was not actively fighting against him. When she had fought Ggio, Mirro decided it was better for her to die so he could find a more compliant host, or perhaps that it was his only option to escape with his life. Ulquiorra saving her had been unexpected, so Mirro decided it would be safer to remain hidden than leave her then. The same had happened when they had fought each other. Ulquiorra, befriending him had angered Mirro to begin with. When he instead spared her life and left her to be finished off by lesser hollows, he woke her up to so he did not die as well. Mirro then decided to keep her for her ability seeing as how he no longer needed to deal with Ulquiorra.

Coming to Las Noches, it had strengthened Mirro's already great hold on Aracelis. He had presumably been able to briefly exit her body with the assistance of Aizen so he could become an Arrancar as well. Mirro clung to Aracelis's ability, accustomed to feeding off of her as she absorbed the energy of those around her. He feared leaving the safety of having her as a host. Already having disliked Ulquiorra for his previous friendship with her, and sparing her life so he had to be trapped with her as she recovered in the human world- and likely feel like he was starving in her once more- it drove Mirro insane. The fact they'd gotten closer worsened his chances of keeping Aracelis's body or surviving leaving her. She as also still stronger than him. Backed into a corner and still possessive of her ability, Mirro had resorted to this stalemate of a battle between them. She was his or no one's, Mirro decided: a wild animal protecting its food source desperately.

Clematis had told him this exact thing. She knew everything about Mirro from the first time she wrapped her vines around Aracelis while the creature had been in control. His best chance of getting rid of Mirro without harming Aracelis… The deranged weed had returned to being in the best position to help him. Damn weed… He wanted to kill that thing, but she had placed herself in a position of relative safety again.

At least now, with what Aracelis shared, he knew how long she had been infected. He could analyze the creature's past reactions, and use it to surmise a possible plan- without having to consult the weed. If he carefully chose his words, he could ask Aracelis questions now as well.

"Ulquiorra?" Aracelis tilted her head to the side, the silence having stretched on. His eyes were narrowed in a deathly glare at her shoulder, tipping her off that he had thought of something. "Did that help or…?"

"It did." His words came out with undue harshness. She didn't seem to be offended by it. Rather, she appeared curious as to why he had gotten upset enough that it affected his behavior and tone. She hadn't pieced it together, then. She didn't Mirro had been present in her while she had been human. She also didn't know it was a parasitic hollow, perhaps thinking a separate hollow being in her impossible since she was a Vasto Lorde and Arrancar. Parasitic hollows were rare, after all, and Mirro would have done anything to prevent her from knowing what he was. With her temper, if she found out any more, she may do something drastic. "Aracelis," he said, raising a hand to rest it on her cheek. Concern, he needed to express it to her. He couldn't risk her learning more. "Cease trying to figure out what 'instinct' is. I believe it may be provoke it into harming you." She laid a hand over his, nodding in understanding, agreeing without an argument. "Trust me to take care of it." He hated telling her to trust him when he didn't necessarily trust himself, but he might not even have a chance to help her if Mirro acted in the midst of this war. He needed to prolong this stalemate. Aracelis couldn't learn more.

"I understand." Completely serious and full of conviction, she said her words like she was a soldier accepting orders. He had been able to get the gravity of the situation across to her. "You've always thought talking about it might be dangerous, so I'll stop trying to figure out what's going since you think that is the best course of action. I trust you." She smiled, squeezing his hand slightly. "I know you're trying to protect me, and I won't let anyone else convince me otherwise anymore."

He remained silent, not having anything else to say, but kept his hand pressed to her face, enjoying the warmth of her hand over his. While he felt unsure about her placing her trust in him, he would do everything in his power to protect her. Even if that meant leaving her- that idea painful, but if his absence meant her survival, then he would no matter how he felt. Failing wasn't an option. He would not lose Aracelis like the human had lost the one he held dear. Losing Aracelis, when he felt this strongly about her, it would destroy him. What he felt for her… it must be how she felt about him with how strong it was becoming.

He wished he could name this feeling.

* * *

 **Long chapter that took a while to edit- it just wasn't 'right' so I waited to post it. Sort of skips around and has a lot of information jammed in it, so hopefully it made sense as a whole.**

 **I added a sketch of Clematis's resurrección on Deviantart (AwkwardBlackCat is my user name) just because I liked how the drawing turned out! I have a sketch of Aracelis and Ellzea on there as well, if anyone hasn't seen those ones yet.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to Crusader King, Chaos'sBride, Jham Erizelle867, YOSHINA, Aviorn, fairytailbunchan, and Megan Mismatch for favoriting and following!**

 **Thestormwriter123- I'm happy that you liked chapter 34 (and 35 too, but 34 was the big one)! Those dang exams like to ruin all the fun sometimes, huh? And Ulquiorra really is beginning to lose that nihilistic outlook he has, which is a big change for him. I hope this chapter progressed that further because, well, that's where I need him to be. I've stretched out this break when Ichigo's in the menos forest just about long enough (one more chapter and their back in Las Noches, running amok)!**


	37. Chapter 37- Understanding

Aracelis vacantly watched the sand swirl far below the tower. She decided it was nice to be outside in the moonlight; being under the dark sky of Hueco Mundo was calming in its familiarity. While she sat on the edge of the tower, her legs crossed under her like she preferred, Ulquiorra stood a short distance behind her, his attention on the moon. Neither of them had spoken a word in the hour or so they'd been up there. The scene, it reminded her of the past even if so many things had changed since then.

She felt herself smile again. He'd called her his friend! After waiting so long, she finally heard him say that he considered her his friend. It still made her giddy. Admitting that much, she hoped it would encourage him to tell her if he felt something more. He had given her hope that he did, saying 'in the very least' he considered her a friend. Being even a bit more open about how he felt, it was a small step closer to understanding him better.

And now, since he had shown her again and again that he cared how she felt, she knew she should probably tell him more 'private' matters that she had been avoiding. She couldn't expect him to tell her anything intimate if she couldn't do the same.

Instinct was a big one, of course, since the bastard had interfered with so many things for so long. He already knew more about it than she did, but that did not change the fact that she had tried to keep it a secret from him. Telling him that out-of-place memory, he told her it helped him figure something out, so it had been worth it. He promised that he would help get rid of instinct, too. She trusted him to find a solution.

' _Keep thinking that, idiot. I'm not leaving unless you're dead. You're mine.'_

'Shut up,' Aracelis mentally shot back at the voice, annoyed it was back to yapping. Possessive piece of crap… Damn was ignoring it a chore when it wanted attention. At least it screwed off earlier. Ulquiorra's little make-out session dissuaded instinct for a while, allowing her free reign. Of course, she would have just talked over instinct anyway.

But what else did she have to share with Ulquiorra? Nothing seemed quite as important as hearing instinct. She didn't want to go into more detail about her human memories; not right now, anyways. Anything connected to that, too, she didn't want to share. Talking about why her self-esteem occasionally ceased to exist sounded like a depressing undertaking indeed. Those were about the only secrets she had. With the whole 'I hear a voice' thing out of the way, and not wanting to talk about her human memories, that left her with telling him how she felt about him. Too intimidating of a task. That would just make her nervous, which would probably make him stressed because she finally noticed that her mood apparently affected his.

Finding a roadblock on the way to starting a conversation once again, she focused on the horizon, using pesquisa. The group of soul reapers and humans were approaching Las Noches again. If they kept going the same direction, they would end up near the Privaron's quarters. The group had grown again, this time joined by a hollow- or maybe a few, but only one was strong enough that she could sense it clearly over the distance. She recognized the other two soul reapers that had joined up with Ichigo in the Menos Forest. Ru… Rukia was the one she could name. The other one remained nameless, as she just recognized that they had been the one to fight Patros. Assuming they were all Orihime's friends, then the Soul Society must have decided to stay out of this affair.

The Soul Society… It clicked in her head that she did have something she could share. While it wasn't that she loved him, she could try to explain how much he meant to her.

"Hey, Ulquiorra," she began, voice breaking the silence. This really did bring back the memories, since she would usually start blabbing after sitting quietly for a few hours. She trusted he would be listening, not even turning her head to confirm. "Did I ever tell you that I once considered going to the Soul Society?"

"No," he responded after a thoughtful pause. He had likely been looking for a possible reason to do something so reckless, because she certainly never told him this story before- with his incredible memory, he wouldn't have forgotten even if she did. "Why would you have considered doing something so reckless?" In her exact words, even… Maybe she wasn't so bad at guessing what was going through his head.

"It was before I met you," she said, leaning back so she could look at the moon. How would he react? Would he think it was pathetic or would he understand why she had done something so… irrational? With the conversation already started, she prevented herself from backing down. "After I tore off my mask, I didn't have anything to do. Hunger didn't drive me like it had beforehand, even with instinct pestering me to go eat hollows. I didn't know what to do because I felt… empty, I guess. I didn't have a purpose or a reason or a goal. The only thing I could think of doing was going to the Soul Society to kill as many soul reapers as I could, since they were still the enemy even when I no longer needed to feed." A rampage before being inevitably slaughtered… She had been a hollow deprived of its basic purpose, so anything to feel alive sounded like the best course of action.

"Instinct complained until I gave up on going." The voice did occasionally keep her from doing overly stupid things, but remained more trouble than the sporadic bouts of helpfulness could ever make up for. It hadn't offered any solution to her oppressive feeling of being directionless. "I decided to try and find someone that might understand." She didn't want to be alone with her thoughts. "That's why I wanted to find a hollow that could do more than growl and attack. That's why I ended up liking you right away." She grinned, remembering how he had insulted her _motive_ and not her- he had shown intelligence. Hollows like Grimmjow had just screamed at her before attacking. Ulquiorra calmly questioned why she was bothering to speak with him before reasoning out what her goal was. Intelligent enough to possibly understand how she felt, but also still weaker than her; that'd been exactly what she was looking for in a companion. "Just like you said when we met, I was lonely, not just bored." She may have tried to deny it then, but he had been right. She sought a companion because she found herself lonely when surrounded by a world of brainless monsters. "And I know you just meant to distract me, but you were the first hollow that asked my name." Even when she had first met Harribel, the Third had not asked her name. Mainly because Aracelis had been quite wary of Harribel since she was much stronger than her at that time- instinct and her, for once, agreed that they didn't want to risk angering such a strong hollow. She'd barely said anything the first time she met Harribel. The second time had been after she had met Ulquiorra, and she had been more confident that other highly evolved hollows wouldn't attack without cause- it helped that Harribel hadn't had her group with her that time.

"I'm really glad we became friends, Ulquiorra. With you, I don't feel as lonely or bored." She had taken an interest in humans as she evolved, but because Ulquiorra found them so bizarre too, she watched them even more so she could share it with him- then later she observed them in hopes of figuring out why she felt the way she did. Harassing soul reapers, she'd done a lot of that before becoming an Arrancar, but her schemes got more convoluted because Ulquiorra's reactions had been hilarious to her. He had seemed genuinely curious about what she had to say. Entertaining them both had, in a way, become her temporary purpose. "You've always been very important to me."

"That's why, when I couldn't find you even after looking all over Hueco Mundo, I…" Its why she'd resigned herself to sitting in the human world, desperately trying to fill the void he left with distractions. She tried to stifle what she felt by focusing on learning pointless facts about humans. "I should have tried harder to find you…" He had been somewhere in Hueco Mundo, since Aizen had found him and recruited him. If the soul reapers found him, then she did not try hard enough. She should have searched longer, revisited every place she'd been a few times instead of giving up after not finding him on the first go around. It would have taken years, maybe decades, but she should have searched every inch of Hueco Mundo multiple times. "Instead I hid in the human world, trying to ignore the fact I missed you so much. I'd been scared. I didn't know why I felt so sad, since I was a hollow, but eventually concluded that at some point in evolution, I recovered some scrap of humanity. I knew why I felt so bad was because I cared a lot about you."

"Why did you not attempt to befriend someone else during that time?" he asked, voice a tiny fraction softer than usual. "Why are you so persistent on being my friend when I have often acted to push you away?"

"I'd been too scared of trying to make another friend," she admitted quietly, it the absolute truth. She pulled her knees in front of her, resting her head on her arms as she curled up. "I was afraid of losing someone again. Of the pain that that caused. I'd been scared of trying again." As lonely as she had been, the fear of facing the sadness she felt at losing him again, it prevented her from trying to form another connection. Isolating herself became a defense mechanism. Fear as a motivating factor… that was certainly hollow-like. "Even Harribel, whom I'd met a few times before then, I'd been too scared of her because she was so much stronger than me. I sort of gave up without even trying…" It would have been difficult to live by Harribel's rules since instinct convinced her she needed to keep eating other hollows, but not impossible. Instead of trying, she just automatically assumed the worse and gave up on the idea. Instinct had convinced her that it was stupid idea, that Ulquiorra had never been her friend anyway, and that trying again would end in failure too. She wouldn't listen to the voice anymore; she knew it was completely wrong in every regard.

"And you're irreplaceable, Ulquiorra." He remained one-of-a-kind to her. Having some of her human memories back, it just cemented that idea in her head. He was different. She loved that about him. "I never want to lose you, so that's one reason for my persistence." He was the most important person in the world to her. That's what she had wanted to express to him. Even if he didn't understand why she did what she did, or why she had wanted a friend, she just wanted him to know how important he was to her. She had noticed that he seemed bewildered that she chose him instead of _anyone_ else. Now that she was more confident he liked her, she was beginning to see that he didn't question her decision to stay with him because he wished to be left alone. He genuinely didn't understand why she would choose him over everyone else. He almost seemed to be trying to show her he wasn't worth her time or the effort. She hoped she was wrong to think that, though… Thinking you're not worth anything, she wouldn't want him to feel like that too…

"I…" She cut herself off, unable to force out the rest of her three-word sentence. The word 'love' just couldn't make it out of her. The only progress she had made was her tongue moving to make the 'l' sound. Had Ulquiorra been able to see her face, he might have caught the letter, but probably not the word. It had been worth a try. Practice, she supposed. "I just wanted to tell you that you mean everything to me." She smiled slightly, happy that she hadn't chickened out in admitting how much he meant. "So even if what I did doesn't make sense, just know that you're very important to me, and that you have been for a long time."

When he stayed quiet, she figured he was thinking over what she had told him. She would let him think in peace. No sense in pushing him to come to an answer, since that hadn't been her goal. After another moment of silence, she returned to sitting cross-legged and to watching the whirling sand as she waited for him to speak, or for another topic to pop into her head.

* * *

He had no words that properly expressed how he felt towards everything Aracelis had told him. This was not a matter of not understanding _why_ she felt such a way. No, terrifyingly he understood _exactly_ what she had experienced.

The moment she said she had considered going to the Soul Society, if she had turned around, she would have seen him staring at her in absolute horror. He hadn't been able to hide his reaction at all. Not when she told him she had considered throwing her life away. A single hollow, no matter how powerful, would die if they entered the Soul Society. Reckless didn't begin to describe the act. Doing such a thing, she knew she would die. That… that had perhaps been her intent.

Asking her why she had considered doing such a thing, it had been difficult to keep his voice level. He… he truly found it hard to act rationally whenever the thought of her dying crossed his mind. The fact that she had nearly chosen to end her life… He could not explain the tightness in his chest at the mere thought.

Her explanation added to his shock. Stripped of natural purpose as a consequence of evolution. Reason no longer existing in a void world of madness. Seeking the comfort of a companion amid a mass of mindless beasts. What she felt after tearing off her mask… he had experienced the same thing. Reaching the height of evolution only to lose any sense of purpose: the nothingness of being a Vasto Lorde. She may not have lost her senses, but she had lost much of her strength. Devoid of the reason satiating hunger brought, the pervasive feeling of being incomplete whether the reason be lost strength or senses, culminating in reaching a desperate breaking point; their experiences so closely mirrored each other's.

He had not recognized the similarities in their evolution because she had been decades ahead of him. Even now, he felt he was following the same path she had already struggled down. After losing her, he had tried to communicate with other hollows- he couldn't deny his failed attempt to search for _someone_ able to understand him despite his inability to speak. Entering the tree… That had been equivalent to her considering entering the Soul Society. Joining Aizen had been a temporary purpose with temporary allies, this life born out of necessity and not choice. She had been in the human world seeking something before being forced into an army under the control of someone she despised. He was beginning to experience different emotions that had formerly been numbed or non-existent; contentment, hatred, fear, concern, empathy, and the unknown, all of these begun to affect him. Aracelis had regained these human sentiments before him, struggled with their meaning, but now held an understanding of them. She… she may have even found the meaning of a heart.

Did this mean he could achieve that as well? He always assumed that reciprocating her feelings was an impossibility because she had _always_ appeared more human than him. He failed to notice that her humanity had come as a consequence of evolution; not merely that she had always been such. Thinking that he could never be similar to her had been a mistake brought on by ignoring her age. If his evolution truly followed the same path as hers, then it was possible that… That he could change.

The concept of having a heart, it would make him more like the pathetic human in his memories. He didn't want a heart if it meant becoming that.

Yet he would not pretend that he didn't understand what she had admitted to him. He couldn't bring himself to crush her hopes in a selfish attempt to deny the truth. She had told him this secret to express how important he was to her, while not expecting him to understand the reason behind her actions. His importance to her, he could understand it better now that it was presented in a manner in which he could relate.

He held her dear for the same reasons after all. He might not understand what to call the feelings he had towards her as a whole, but he recognized that she was the most important person to him. She had been the speck of light amid the darkness; a reason in the madness. Her differences had placed her apart from other hollows; it made her similar to him, and he found solace in that. When he became a Vasto Lorde, he had been ready devote himself to whatever purpose she wished because she had become the single hollow he could communicate with. He had been prepared to protect her even then. Losing her once made him reluctant to accept her back- he had been… afraid… he would lose her again and experience the same pain once more, as well as being bitter over her 'leaving' him alone at such a pivotal time in his evolution.

Some of her fondness for him, he could understand it now. He had somehow fulfilled the same role she had to him. An important, irreplaceable role.

He felt he should tell her. She wished to understand him as well, and this would be a major step in achieving that. Emotional intimacy, he still felt reluctant to proceed with it- especially now, fearing the possibility of gaining a heart and losing the last shred of sanity he had.

And yet…

* * *

Ulquiorra had been silent for so long, she almost began to think that he had sneaked off without her noticing. She could sense his spiritual pressure right behind her, of course, but she hadn't heard him make a single noise in quite a while.

She found that she had nothing else to talk about. Well, actually, she wanted to ask more about the soul reapers since Ulquiorra would know what sort of abilities they had, or a lot of other little facts. Also, she never quite got the whole story of why Aizen had kept them in that meeting so long- or why they were letting the humans scuttle around unchecked. The only reason she didn't want to bring it up was she didn't want to distract him from thinking about what she had told him- if he was still considering it, that is. With the silence seeming unending, she decided that she would go grab a book from their room to keep herself entertained. That way he could have some more time to think before she started babbling to break the silence.

After getting to her feet, she stretched her back in preparation for using sonido to race to their room and back in the shortest amount of time she could, the challenge another thing to entertain herself with. Just as she lowered her arms back to her side, ready to dart away, she heard Ulquiorra take a few feather-light steps towards her. Did he intend to follow her, then? Before she could turn to look at him, his hand clasped around her wrist, a gentle pull enough to signal for her to take a step back. She did, curious to see what he had planned. His stunt in the shower hadn't gone over well, so probably not trying to distract himself – or her- with physical pleasure. As her back pressed against his body, he released her wrist in preference of resting his hand over hers while holding her close. Almost embracing her… It was the first time he held her like this when standing. If he wrapped his other arm around her, this truly would be a hug.

The sound of his voice made her snap her mouth closed, her unasked question dying in the back of her throat.

"I understand."

Two words. Two words were enough to make her eyes go wide, her body freezing in place as her brain raced to comprehend something so seemingly simple. Her lips moved soundlessly as she found it impossible to respond. He meant he understood what she had told him, surely, but the weight behind those two words felt heavier than mere acknowledgment of her point of view. Heavier than sympathy as well. She felt her stomach turn in knots as realization began to shatter the shock numbing her brain.

"You had found me, even if you did not realize it," he began again, dismissing any blame she had placed on herself. How this related to what she had told him, she was afraid to find out. Instinct began to cackle, apparently already knowing what Ulquiorra was about to tell her. Her brain shut down everything else to focus on his voice uninterrupted. "You would have died had you attempted to reach me." If she had a heart, it would be beating erratically in an odd mix of dread and anticipation. No matter how curious she had been, his tone alone made her recognize that he had not been comfortably sitting around somewhere like she had been. "Do you remember that crystal tree?" She couldn't even muster a muted 'yes' or tip her head stiffly. Her eyes stared blankly forward, tears threatening to spill. "I had been at the center."

Silence hung in the air at his confession. Her brain struggled to comprehend why he would do such a thing, the obvious answer the last one she wanted to be true. He had said it himself when they had stopped by the tree; it would be foolish to crawl into that gnarled mass because there would be no leaving it. The thorns could easily shred hierro, or embed so deeply that pulling free neared impossible without removing limbs and chunks of flesh. Crawling in there, all the way to the center, it wasn't some mistake. No, he chose to enter knowing that escape was impossible. He had… he had gone in there to…

' _He wanted to kill himself! Isn't that hilarious?'_ Instinct butted in again, still joyful at this fact. ' _I only wish he'd succeeded. But once a failure, always a failure. Right, Aracelis?'_

"Why?" she whispered, a tear slipping from her eye- she couldn't care less about embarrassing herself by being emotional. Ignoring instinct took a lot of effort, but that bastard could wait. Ulquiorra was far more important. She moved her hand so she could grip his instead.

"I believe I felt similar you. When I became a Vasto Lorde, you became the only one able to communicate with me. Without you…" He hesitated, reluctant to finish the statement. Admitting something like this, he thought it would make him appear weak or too human, if she had to guess. It would make him even more like her, and he wasn't ready for that. Still, he admitted being similar. "I had nothing to lose." He almost had to fight her to get her to release his hand. Instead of walking away like she expected, he took hold of her hand and raised it to touch his cheek. "The tree had shattered my mask." He lowered her hand back down, although not dropping it. He wanted to keep talking. "The thorns of the tree had embedded in my skin, but had proven too weak to kill me. It eventually became an additional source of power to me. It is the reason I have a second release state," he needlessly explained, this the least concern to her presently, even if the information answered past questions.

It was great that it hadn't killed him, of course, but the fact that it _could_ have, that he had at one time wanted it to, it devastated her. She had no idea. She felt guilty for yelling at him to tell her when they'd been reunited- of course he wouldn't have told her then. The comments she made at the tree, when she'd said it was stupid to try to go in… She had essentially called him stupid for being depressed. She had assumed that he hadn't been too upset about losing her, but how wrong she'd been. He had been suffering so much. Far more than she had. When she had asked if he had missed her, she never considered it had affected him so deeply. How lonely it must have been for him, being unable to speak or hear or feel; he'd been utterly alone in every sense of the word. He likely thought he had killed her too. The guilt and the loneliness, it must have been unbearable. Having nothing to distract himself must have pushed him over the edge. Despair… True despair is what he must have felt at being left with nothing. And she didn't notice. No wonder he was reluctant to be close with her again…

"Aizen had crushed the tree, dissipating it long enough to offer me a place in his army," Ulquiorra added to finish the story of how he had been freed from one deathtrap for another. She understood, though, why he was loyal to Aizen. Not only had he taken him from the tree, but he offered him a purpose. Having any goal to achieve was enough to convince Ulquiorra to join. Being a soldier in an army allowed him a purpose, as well as allies for a minimal form of companionship. Becoming a disposable tool to a soul reaper was better than nothing in his mind- in his position, she might have agreed.

"I," she whispered, "I understand why you're here." She leaned back into him, wanting to turn around and hug him, but aware he had done this on purpose because he wanted to avoid her eyes. He'd done so to prevent her from seeing any facial expressions he viewed as pathetic, or to avoid the apologetic looks she would have been aiming at him. She was crying, as selfish as it was. This was about him, not how the stuff he shared made her feel. She wanted to apologize for ignoring the fact that he had been through a lot when they'd been apart, that she -and instinct- caused him immense pain, and that she hadn't noticed how he felt- instead she was too busy pitying herself, thinking he had never cared about her. "I'm so sorry, Ulquiorra." She needed to say it. Not apologizing at all for this, it wouldn't be right. He acknowledged it by nodding his head once, the movement almost missed as he stood behind her. The only reason she knew was he had his face turned into her hair in that brief second. "Thank you for sharing that with me, Ulquiorra."

In true Ulquiorra fashion, he said nothing in response, but he didn't move away either. He allowed for her to turn around to fling her arms around him and bury her face into his shoulder as well. While he still adamantly refused to return the gesture in full, his body was relaxed, not tensing with the contact.

* * *

It was a time later when she felt a hand on her shoulder, gently persuading her to take a step back. She stubbornly clung to him for half a second longer, not happy that someone _always_ needed to create an issue when they were having a moment. When she did release him from the hug, she was scowling at the ground, attention focused on the spiritual pressure sauntering into the tower like he owned the place.

"The Fifth has chosen to ignore Lord Aizen's orders," Ulquiorra stated flatly, his eyes slightly narrowed. Aracelis glanced up at him, tilting her head slightly. He saw it as a question immediately. "The Espada had been ordered to stay in their quarters until further notice. We were also ordered not to pursue the intruders." That explained why he hadn't chased weed-face down- couldn't break Aizen's rules when he had already allowed Orihime to nearly get killed. Aizen must have been enjoying the show the weed was putting on- that was the only reason Aracelis found as to way the plant hadn't been eliminated for her actions.

"How did a two-order meeting take so long," she grumbled under her breath. If that's all Aizen had to tell them, it was like he wanted Orihime to end up dead. Bastard. In the last fifteen minutes, she had grown increasingly agitated. Nnoitra showing up didn't help her mood any. Nor did thinking of their 'leader.' "Why do you think the damn idiot is here anyway?"

Ulquiorra gave an exasperated blink. "To annoy me." In other words, Nnoitra had no rational reason to be here. The Fifth had decided to pay a visit with the intention of doing anything to irritate Ulquiorra into a fight. Unless weed-face had somehow instigated this visit. Unfortunately, that was always a possibility given she had so much information to manipulate people with; especially if they were complete imbeciles.

"Mission accomplished," she muttered, glaring at the ground again. Nnoitra had annoyed them both already. She didn't want to know what he planned to do to get their attention. Perverted, sick bastard the Fifth was, Aracelis couldn't even wager a guess other than that something unpleasant would be happening.

"The woman will need to be watched," he almost sighed. Orihime would be in the most danger; she had no hopes of escaping from Nnoitra if he targeted her. Ulquiorra would need to go babysit the girl to deter their 'ally' from harassing her. He really didn't like her much… Or maybe he just disliked that the girl had seen too much during Clematis's attack. "I would prefer to use the time to further Lord Aizen's wishes." He already knew she didn't approve of using manipulation, which he certainly would be employing, but he also seemed quite willing to put aside his task if she did not want to avoid Nnoitra on her own.

"I'll be fine." Ulquiorra wanted to get his task out of the way instead of just standing in there with Orihime and her, wasting time. With the humans on the very outskirts of Las Noches, Ulquiorra was likely planning to use that fact in his manipulation tactics. It'd be more effective now than later. "I just need to stay out of sight and keep my spiritual pressure contained to fool that idiot into not knowing where I am. I can run for it, too, if he miraculously found a brain."

"If you stay in our quarters," he began, letting her know that the option to leave actually existed, "use extreme caution. If you go elsewhere until the Fifth has been dealt with, I ask you to avoid the intruders."

She tried to keep from smiling at the opportunity. This would work well for her. No rules against her wandering about, then, if he gave her the option. "Okay, I can do that," she said with a nod.

She quickly found a hand under her chin tilting her face to look directly at him. "You are planning something," he said knowingly, eyes narrowed with suspicion as he studied her. After a few moments, she broke, smirk on her face showing she was up to no good. "Is it likely to lead to you needing rescue?"

"No." The three were all hiding, licking their wounds. She felt nearly one-hundred percent right now. Going to have a simple chat shouldn't require rescue even if the three tried anything. If they did, she could outrun them all. Or at least finish the bird off, maim the moth, and dodge weed-face. She'd be catching them off guard too- Clematis likely had knowledge of Aizen's orders to the Espada. "I should be fine." He continued to study her face, going over the possibilities of what she might have planned. He probably had some idea. It's not like she knew too many people in Las Noches. "Go deal with Orihime, I promise I'll be fine, Ulquiorra. No fighting or anything."

' _I want to go tear her apart,'_ instinct complained. It had a different reason, but she did agree that the idea of ripping Clematis apart was appealing. If it came to fighting- which she would fervently try to prevent- instinct would at least be on her side. Whatever information the weed had, instinct felt it extremely important to keep from her. More so than the fact she had learned the voice was something separate; it refused to admit anything, still, though. That wasn't what she aimed to gain from the weed, so instinct should be somewhat behaved, especially if she limited her options.

"I won't use ceros or balas. I won't even spike my spiritual pressure," she added, even if it would be a challenge for her. Not threating the infuriating weed in that manner would inevitably prove difficult, but she wanted to go scream at Clematis more than anything right now. If that meant making some compromises to keep instinct in check, then so be it. "If I do, then I'm not the one in control anymore." Instinct would immediately be the culprit this way, and Ulquiorra could rush over- the threat of that would dissuade instinct, probably. She doubted the Espada would actually be punished for leaving their quarters when _not_ going after intruders anyway; look at Nnoitra waltzing around. Ulquiorra just wished to follow orders out of respect and loyalty. Fighting Clematis wouldn't be a two-second job for instinct, either, because Ulquiorra still had her sword. She'd have no resurrección for instinct to use, and Clematis would most certainly be using hers. It would give Ulquiorra plenty of time to come get her if it came to that. "And if it looks like things might go bad, I'll run right away." She intended to keep the promises she made. She wanted him to trust that she wouldn't create trouble even if she did go off and do something considerably ill-advised.

After another few moments of intense scrutiny, he stiffly nodded once. "You are to return when Nnoitra has left, and not one moment later." A blatant show that he did not like this idea, but also a show of him trying to trust her not to get in trouble. She'd make sure she didn't make him regret giving her the opportunity. Before he walked off to go do his job and turn a blind eye on her stupidity, he leaned forward to give her a parting kiss.

As he turned away, Aracelis repeated, "I promise, Ulquiorra, I won't create a problem for you to deal with." He glanced over his shoulder a final time before using sonido to disappear from sight. In less than a second he was back in the tower, down several dozen floors.

' _Go kill that bitch! You are not just going to go yell at her over something as dumb as what she showed him,"_ instinct whined again, still displeased by her reason in going to see the weed.

But it sincerely pissed her off. While she had been thinking over what Ulquiorra had told her, she came to a conclusion. Clematis, that absolutely intolerable plant, she had been using his memories against him. The creature had undoubtedly been making him relive every single bad memory he had in a painstakingly realistic manner. Everything related to losing her, to being in the tree, and who knows what else, Clematis had been tormenting him with it. The reason he had been so sad had been the weed replaying all of the pain and loss in his past. This, this Aracelis found unforgivable and she would not rest until she screamed it in the weed's face. Was it foolish? Definitely. Would it help anything? Not likely. But she would anyways because fits of rage were her style.

"How did you know Ulquiorra had been in the tree?" she finally asked, the question directed at instinct. That laughter earlier made her blood boil even now.

' _Aizen told me.'_ It cackled away when she couldn't find on instance when Aizen would have told them both this information, meaning that unknown to her, instinct had talked to the prick. _'I can take control of you so easily, girl. I talked to Aizen and you had no idea. Does it bother you? I thought you learning that I could take control of you would be a bad thing, but now I can gloat about all the things I can do while you're passed out!'_ Its new favorite threat… _'I can't wait till you're out again. I think I'll pretend to be you and crush that delicate flower Ulquiorra's feelings! I'd be so easy! I should have thought all the possibilities sooner!'_

"Shut up," she hissed, not wanting to hear it ramble. On a whim, she grabbed her right shoulder, digging her nails in and almost breaking skin. It hurt like hell, making her grit her teeth, but it shut instinct up. What a nice control tactic she had now. "I've got other things to do, so quiet."

She jumped off of the tower, plummeting towards the ground. A wave of sand rose up when she didn't slow her landing. As soon as her feet dug into the ground, she used sonido to race forward. There was no time to waste; not when the intruders appeared to be going to the same general destination as her. Ulquiorra wouldn't take too long speaking with Orihime and ousting the Fifth from their tower, either.

She only had a small window of time to go scream at the weed, and see if the creature spewed out any worthwhile information.

* * *

 **And once more, canon is back! Ulquiorra's gotta go deal with Nnoitra and Orihime – which I don't think I'll be showing much since I don't plan on changing anything in that section. Next chapters, time wise, will be one thing after another. And Aracelis is on a mission to give Clematis a piece of her mind! And, well, what could possibly go wrong, huh? Aracelis's story was first mentioned in chapter 20, some of Ulquiorra's words were from 5, 6, and 26, and Mirro asked Aizen where Ulquiorra's been in chapter 19, if some things seem familiar- it's been a while for sure.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to xXMasqueradeOfVendettaXx and Luv-ly Stories for favoriting!**

 **DeadWolfGirl- Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying, and let the war commence!**

 **Guest 1- Merci! I am happy you like the story!**

 **Guest 2 (The Shy Scorpio?)- I'm pleased that you liked last chapter so much! And that it showed how far they've come! Especially in the last few chapters, they've developed so much; I'm happy that you've liked the pacing of that because, well, its crunch time with Ichigo's group about to bust into Las Noches. They've definitely grown to care about each other very much since the beginning of this story- even stubborn 'I have no heart' Ulquiorra has let his feelings run wild! As for Aracelis being less confused about their relationship, she does have a better understanding of emotional stuff, but also has more experience in general -even if most was negative- while Ulquiorra's the one at a loss. And Aracelis is definitely trying very hard to notice his mood and understand what he is doing from his perspective instead of hers. That's why I've been wanting type this chapter out, since it shows them sort of getting a mutual understanding of each other's perspectives- because they are both similar, they just tend to react in different manners. Before I ramble on and on… Thank you for reviewing! And I'm** _ **guessing**_ **that this is The Shy Scorpio?**

 **haipa-chan- I know! Oh, it's been bothering me that Aracelis has been thinking Mirro's yammering is normal- like, she's not stupid, but she can be. I mean, she did think it was somewhat normal because Mirro had been there so long, but** _ **I knew and the readers knew**_ **so it was making her painfully dumb. I added some bits in this chapter as to why Mirro let her tell Ulquiorra because I saw your review and agreed it wasn't well addressed in story. First, they were in the shower and Mirro tends to assume the perverted will happen, so he would duck out. But, also, since Aracelis had already been so suspicious, no amount of Mirro screaming would stop her from telling Ulquiorra about hearing a voice. Ulquiorra also already had a general idea about it- so it wasn't a well-kept secret to begin with on Mirro's part. The memory, though, had been something he hadn't thought she would bring up. As for the change in plans, Ulquiorra** _ **is**_ **being** _ **very**_ **cautious because he doesn't know everything. His plan is tearing apart her shoulder to drag Mirro out, and since Mirro is connected to her nerves and brain, it would cause a lot of damage- which is why he wanted Orihime's ability. He'd wanted to catch Mirro off guard so Mirro couldn't try to do more damage under the assumption he can. Now that Mirro knows he wants to use Orihime's ability, anytime they go near her, Mirro is on high alert. It's just a tricky spot, and Ulquiorra really doesn't want to end up killing her. This is something for later :) so that's all I'll say for now! Hope it helped; I will try to work this explanation in somewhere since it was such a good question too. Love questions! And they're both getting real close to admitting their feelings to each other; so much progress in so many ways, like the talking this chapter, or Aracelis realizing her own actions. They've definitely come a long way! I'm happy that when you re-read an old chapter that they did have many changes since then! Before I have a story down here too, thank you for the extra long review and helpful questions!**


	38. Chapter 38- Irritations

A single kick sent the door flying off its hinges and into the room, the following high-pitched screech combined with a loud thud almost making Aracelis lose her serious expression to burst out laughing. As she walked into the room, hands on her hips, she saw the door had landed on Geero. The dazed bird struggled to crawl out from underneath the rubble, only able to pull himself along with his remaining arm. Ellzea stood to the side, hand on her sword as she stared in horror at the sudden arrival. The moth's face was still scorched, skin a raw red. Without her ally and injured, she knew her odds were poor even with her annoying resurrección.

It would take a whole of two seconds to kill them with how pathetic they looked. Without Clematis's help in plotting escape routes, the two were about as useful as any other Número- a minor distraction at most.

But she wasn't there for them; not with her time limit. She looked past them to another door on the opposite side of the room. Upon her entrance, she felt the weed spike her spiritual pressure out of fear- likely the plant concluded from the lack of presence it was Aracelis, though, so that element of surprise was lost. Didn't matter, though, considering there was nowhere to run. They were underground, the humans in one direction, Aracelis in another, and nothing but dead ends in the other directions. To her knowledge, anyway, because she wouldn't pretend she knew the layout of Las Noches. Entering through the stairway on top of the dome had proven to be a waste time- the entrance from under the fake sky had been closer to Clematis's hideout, if she remembered her path here correctly. She'd only made it to this room by blindly targeting their spiritual pressures and crashing through one or two or five walls when frustrated.

She walked through the room, ignoring the worried stares from mothy and birdy. "Interfere and you're dead," she spat when Ellzea twitched her arm to draw her sword. "Consider yourselves lucky, since I'm not here to finish what I'd started earlier."

Ellzea dropped her arm back to her side with a huff, but seemed to understand the situation. She was truly a hollow, letting an enemy kill an ally if it meant keeping her own life. Considering it was Clematis, anyone would probably sell her out for a smaller reward than living a short time longer- because she still would kill Ellzea, just at a later date.

Unlike the first door, she restrained herself and opened it like a regular person. Still slammed it behind her, since she didn't need the other two listening in.

Her first glimpse of Clematis nearly made her break her promise about not fighting. The weed had apparently calmed down in the brief time it took for her to walk into the room, a smile on her face as she laid in the couch. And not normally either. The creature had laid on the seat and had her legs draped over the back to sit essentially upside down. Why? Most likely to piss Aracelis off by acting nonchalant. As Aracelis ground her teeth together, she admitted to herself it'd worked.

"Why hello, Aracelis!" Clematis chirped, flailing her arms out to the side. "I'm so happy you've decided to visit! I thought you would be upset with me!"

Aracelis _really_ regretted saying she wouldn't use balas or ceros… She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to contain the anger as best she could. She couldn't fall for such obvious taunts. Clematis wanted to rile her up until she had an opening to escape or attack. If this thing thought she was less of a threat without her sword or Ulquiorra at her side, she swore…

"Aww, are you angry about something? What happened, dear Aracelis?"

"Shut the hell up!" She flung her arms to the side, hands clenched into tight fists. This needed to be a quick conversation for more reasons than a time limit. If Clematis kept up the bullshit, Aracelis wouldn't be able to keep her spiritual pressure in check. "I didn't come here to listen to you babble! So, shut up!" The yelling only made Clematis smile happily. She forgot how annoying talking with this thing was. No wonder Ulquiorra hated speaking with her- and he _hated_ very few things so completely.

Even silent, Clematis grated on her nerves. The weed aimed a wink at her before continuing to grin cheerfully.

"I don't know what the hell your issue is, but leave Ulquiorra alone," she growled. "Stop playing around with his memories, or I swear my first priority will be tearing you in half and smashing your head into the ground until its paste."

"Why so angry with me?" Clematis pouted for a moment before smiling brightly again. "I do wonder, though, why you're so upset. Did he actually tell you? Or did you guess?" She giggled, her words nearing gibberish as she jokingly asked, "Or was he crying?"

Aracelis took a threatening half-step forward. More than anything, she wanted to go punch Clematis's overly cheerful face- no one mocked Ulquiorra. However, she knew getting close enough to throttle the weed would also mean that she was within range of those stupid vines. She had a nasty feeling the damn plant had more memories she could use as a distraction.

"Although, I do doubt he told you _everything_. Certainly not his human memories when he's _so_ far in denial. Now, what would he tell you?" As Clematis hummed in false thoughtfulness, Aracelis glared at the weed. He _did_ have his human memories shown to him. The reason he'd been so depressed after Clematis had used her ability, whatever had happened in his past had been absolutely awful. The fact that Clematis played around with such painful memories made her blood boil. "That he had been devastated when he lost you maybe? It might explain why you're oh-so angry with me for repeating it for him. But, even if he did, he'd lie about the extent. He'd never tell _you_ someth-"

"If you even think to make him relive his time in that tree one more damn time," Aracelis snapped, seeing that Clematis was just trying to make her nervous. Ulquiorra meant what he said, and it hadn't been a lie. Even if he did omit a part, what he did say had been a truth unaffected by nit-picky details.

"Oh, wow! That much, huh? Maybe he isn't a lost cause!" Clematis continued laughing at whatever she found amusing as she let her legs slide off the couch until she was laying in it like a regular person. Aracelis tensed a bit, both because Clematis would be able to stand quickly now, but also that time was ticking away. She hadn't gotten much done beyond screaming at the weed for tormenting Ulquiorra- and she hadn't even worked that fully out of her system. "Well, he still will get you killed, I'm sure. Such a _terrible_ track record after all."

"What are you-" Aracelis cut herself off as she took a defensive step back. Clematis moved her hair out her face, the sudden movement having sent it into her eyes. She was standing, her vines still hidden under her sleeves. The weed looked as calm as could be, too, which pissed Aracelis off. Apparently, she didn't scare Clematis at all. Even the weed couldn't act like this in front of Ulquiorra. The last time Aracelis had seen them interacting, Ulquiorra had Clematis by the neck, slammed into a wall so hard the stone had cracked. It'd been a miracle Clematis had survived that.

"He's a monster only capable of causing death." The flat tone struck her as much as the words themselves. Clematis narrowed her eyes as she gave out veiled warnings. "Even if he cares about someone, he's never able to protect them, and they always inevitably die _because of him_. You're no exception to the rule of his existence. If he actually wanted to keep someone safe, he would remove himself from the picture. Staying with you is selfish indeed." Clematis sighed, glancing to the side before bitterly mumbling, "Honestly, it would have been better for him to die in that tree."

Before Aracelis even registered what she was doing, she used sonido. Her fist connected with Clematis's jaw with a satisfying crack. As Clematis's head snapped to the side, a billowing sleeve made Aracelis's eyes dart away from the weed's grimacing face, time seeming slowed with the adrenaline rush. The speed of the counterattack caught her off guard. Clematis had been waiting for an opening. The gleaming tip of a sword slid across her ribcage as she jumped back.

While Clematis attempted to snap her jaw back into place, her busted lip dripping blood onto the floor, Aracelis looked at the cut on her side. Or at least the slash in the fabric, as regeneration had healed the superficial wound already. That'd been a completely stupid thing for her to do. Clematis had her sword hidden under her sleeve the entire time, two words away from using her resurrección if needed. Physically attacking had been even more reckless. If she wasn't faster, if she had allowed herself to be distracted in that moment, if she had aimed to shatter her mask and not hit the side left defenseless, Clematis would have had her vines around her, oblivious to the world and at her mercy once again.

Emotion had gotten the better of her. Clematis struck a raw nerve in saying he should have died. And before that, when she called him a monster… Whatever Ulquiorra had done as a human, and what Clematis forced him to relive, she had a gut feeling that was why he asked if she feared him. In a stroke of luck, she might have said exactly what he needed to hear; that she didn't think he was a monster. At the same time, Clematis seemed to hint that a pattern of loss had plagued Ulquiorra from a human to a hollow like an unending hell. Regaining memories like that… She regretted following the mosquito into the room; he had only gotten caught to save her from being pounded into the floor, according to Orihime. Even if it hadn't been her fault, she wished she could take back that decision in hopes he hadn't had to face more suffering than he had already. She needed some of hers to recognize her actions. He didn't.

"Ow~ That really hurt Aracelis!" The weed rubbed her bruised cheek with a single vine, smearing her muddy blood around. The remainder of the bundle clutched her sword as a threat. "I was only telling the truth!"

"Quiet." Aracelis kept from raising her voice. She needed to calm down. Playing Clematis's game would only make things worse, and possibly cause her to break her promise of not fighting. The punch to the face had pushed her close enough to the line.

"Do you want to see?" Clematis's words were both teasing and serious. She already knew Aracelis's answer to that question, having had it screamed in her face the last time she asked, but the weed was wholly willing to share everything she knew. Aracelis didn't understand it. She couldn't comprehend why Clematis acted like a friend and an enemy. "I can show you every memory I showed him. If you want to understand him, this is the only way. You know he won't ever tell you. Look how long it's taken for him to even admit he missed you to the point he would rather die than live with the pain. His human past, he hates it so much because he sees he's a monster, yet also a human all the same." Just as Aracelis opened her mouth to reject the offer once more, Clematis dramatically threw her arms to her side, shouting, "And how unfair!" She had more info to spout off. The wicked grin on her face showed it. "Even the cute human got a peek at his memories! Why shouldn't you? You do love him oh-so-much after all."

Aracelis glanced to the side. Of course, Clematis _would_ know how she felt after digging around in her memories. She hated the fact, but there wasn't anything she could do to change it- the only way to get rid of the talkative weed would be to kill her. She already guessed that Orihime had seen something, although she didn't imagine it had been Ulquiorra's human past. Clematis was right, though. Ulquiorra never liked humans to begin with; he'd hate seeing himself as one, especially if as a human he acted similar to how he did now. It would mean he hadn't changed, that he was still a weak human even after taking pride in being a powerful hollow. Conflicting ideals, he had enough of those before Clematis took the liberty of showing him as a human.

One thing was still off. Clematis regrettably had a vast amount of information at her disposal. Yet, in every conversation, she had never directly mentioned instinct. She said things that riled it up, like offering to tell her about the scar on her shoulder. Aracelis hadn't understood Clematis's following rant at the time. She'd said something about revealing a secret related to the scar before instinct interrupted, but the weed might have been outright taunting instinct with her knowledge. She needed to get the topic off of Ulquiorra before she lashed out again, too.

"Hey," Aracelis shouted, making Clematis end the obnoxious humming she'd started. "You said you knew about the scar." She pointed to her shoulder. Clematis's face slipped from her cheerful mask to seriousness in the span of a second. "What do-"

Aracelis almost fell to her knees. She raised a hand to the side of her head, her vision blurring as her head throbbed. It felt like she had been tossed head-first through several stone walls after taking a hammer to the head. If the pain got much worse, she would be on the floor. Instinct had let out an animalistic growl, voice low and far different from her own, to cut her off with a warning. _'Don't say anything more.'_ She knew if she pushed the issue, it would do something. Losing control, she couldn't let that happen right now. Ulquiorra had been right to tell her not to pry for information herself if this was the result. She had pushed her luck even asking if Clematis knew _something_ \- not even specifics. No matter how curious she was, she should have listened to him. He knew how to best protect her. She could rely on him.

"I know more than Ulquiorra does," Clematis admitted, her voice sounding far away. "Not only of the scar, but of your resurrección and instinct's nature as well." Her answer easily explained why Ulquiorra had avoided killing her- he wanted to interrogate her. He… he must be desperate if sparing Clematis was the only way. That wasn't a good sign. It truly showed how precarious of a situation Aracelis found herself in. "That's all I'm going to say to her, so calm down before Ulquiorra decides to join us. I haven't forgiven him for killing Licidae; he no longer has my help. And I'm not particularly fond of the idea of being killed over you acting like a brat, mister." Aracelis imagined Clematis gave a ridiculous pout after the insult. The rest, though, had been said with uncharacteristic seriousness. Helpful yet unhelpful again. She could have easily attacked while Aracelis's vision danced with black spots, her balance horribly thrown off. Instead she told instinct to shut up. Likely to avoid Ulquiorra showing up, as she said, the fact it would help Aracelis secondary.

' _Bitch,'_ instinct hissed, _'I will kill you the moment I have a chance. I swear it!'_

The throbbing in her head eased, not disappearing entirely. Her blurred vision suddenly went clear, as though nothing had ever been wrong. Never before had it reacted so violently, not even when it had attempted to have Ulquiorra kill her. Clematis hadn't lied. She knew everything. Instinct was terrified of Clematis and Ulquiorra because the two jeopardized its existence somehow. Even if she did not understand what instinct was, she did understand its deep-seated, hollow-like fear of death. Her learning more than she already knew would make it take control before doing who-knows-what with her body. Its threat earlier did honestly bother her; she didn't want it saying anything to Ulquiorra. Being able to quiet instinct through threatening to injure her arm, it was an insignificant victory for her. Full control was as out of her reach as ever- she was just more aware of it now.

"Aww, I'd love to keep talking to you." Clematis shrugged, brushing off both her disappointment and the seriousness she formerly held. "But my oh my, how close the intruders are! I do hope they don't come this way to say hello."

For a second, Aracelis felt her eyes widen as she tried to figure out how Clematis knew she'd agreed to avoid the humans. The weed grinned knowingly, quickly turning Aracelis's shocked expression back into a hateful glare.

"The Espada have been ordered to remain in their quarters. One more transgression against Aizen in favor of helping you, and Ulquiorra will be facing punishment." Clematis tilted her head before adding, "Or at least he thinks so; Aizen is someone I can't quite read. Anyway, Ulquiorra would want to avoid having to come rescue you from the intruders; getting away with that would be a lot more difficult than him coming to save you from me. As surprising as it is, I am not in Lord Aizen's good graces at the moment." She rocked on her heels as she stared at the ground in false guilt, her pout fighting a smile. "Dear Gin had to come give me a warning after our last battle about playing Aizen's toys. He stopped that silly bull from executing me, though, so Aizen's at least enjoying the show, I suppose. The only thing I've learned about him is he likes to play games to keep himself entertained, you see."

Suddenly, realization bared down on Aracelis like a needed smack to the head. "Damn it!" She whipped around, heels digging into the ground before she launched herself through the door- she didn't have time to waste opening it like a civilized person. "Damn, damn, damn!" Clematis had been rambling to distract her from the fact a soul reaper had been dashing through the halls nearby towards the closest exit- the one Aracelis planned on using to quickly get back to Ulquiorra's quarters.

As she breezed by Ellzea and Geero, Clematis shouted after her, "Bye, bye, Aracelis! It's been nice talking to you! See you again soon!"

She kept mentally cursing when she sensed Nnoitra descending the tower. Cutting it close didn't even begin to explain how narrow of a gap she had to get back in time. Nothing, meaning absolutely nothing, else could happen or she would be late.

With her luck, she already realized how screwed she was. She could only try to minimize the damage now.

* * *

Nnoitra stood still, his face not masking his confusion at all. Even after painstakingly explaining the entire situation to him, the Fifth didn't understand the intricacies of Aizen's method of controlling Orihime. Not that he expected him to. Like Aracelis, Ulquiorra had decided to taunt Nnoitra for his own amusement. Unlike his vindictive Aracelis, he had been subtle. Perplexing Nnoitra to the point he could not tell if it was an insult or not was more 'fun' than outright calling him an idiot. It distracted the Fifth as well. Even then, Ulquiorra did not feel like prolonging the conversation for much longer. He wanted the Fifth gone and Aracelis back under his watch before she got in trouble.

"That sure was well thought out," Nnoitra admitted, attempting to pretend he had understood the explanation. It kept him from making further vulgar comments towards Aracelis or the woman. "I guess that's to be expected of Lord Aizen."

"Well thought out? This is a game to Lord Aizen." Like everything else he does, Ulquiorra mentally added. The soul reaper had gotten on his nerves. He would not soon forget the anger he felt when it became clear Aizen would punish Aracelis in place of him should he continue prioritizing her. "It would have been fine whether she played into it or not. Whatever the case, that woman has no strength to run away from here. She doesn't have the will or the strength to defy us." He began walking away again, leaving Nnoitra with that last insult towards not understanding the 'psychological cage' the woman had been placed in to keep her complacent. "Your concern in the matter is unnecessary," he said over his shoulder, wanting the fool gone. "I suggest you return to your quarters, as Lord Aizen requested."

When the Fifth caught the hidden threat a few moments later, he hissed out an insult Ulquiorra did not care to hear. Nonetheless, Nnoitra turned on his heel and began to stomp his way towards the stairs. He saw there would be no battle between them; Ulquiorra would just toss him out, or, if he persisted, bring him to Tousen to face disciplinary actions from a soul reaper that fought for justice- the biggest insult towards someone like Nnoitra.

Even with the nuisance dealt with, Ulquiorra's mood did not improve much.

The woman didn't fear him as much as she should. When he had entered the room, he had surprised her, yet she did not react with fear. Instead she acted embarrassed that she hadn't noticed him, that perhaps he had been there while she changed or some other ridiculous thing the girl would think up.

She pitied him for what she had seen of that human's past. He hadn't wanted that. Not because it would greatly hinder his duties as her jailer, but because he didn't want pity from a human woman. He did not need her acting with false kindness because she saw him as something broken. They were not friends. They were barely acquaintances. He should mean absolutely nothing to the girl- she reminded him of Aracelis, which also reminded him how human Aracelis was. She should not pretend to know how he felt after witnessing one pathetic memory from a human that no longer lived.

At least she had taken his words seriously. She had only hesitated for an instant when he asked to whom she belonged. She had also not flinched at the question; the girl had more resolve than he first anticipated. He wondered if this too had stemmed from her pitying him instead of fearing him.

As for Aracelis…

He sighed. Letting her run wild had been a mistake. He should not have allowed her to go confront the weed even after she promised she would not get in trouble- he had been attempting to trust her, but he had made himself worried. A few moments ago, he had sensed Clematis spike her spiritual pressure, the distortion around Aracelis growing as she drew in the excess energy. He did not know whether the plant had reacted to a physical attack by Aracelis or the mere threat of her words. He would be displeased if it had been the former, as she had taken far too much of a risk had she gotten close enough to land a blow. That being said, he had also known the probability of that happening was nearly one hundred percent given Aracelis's temper and how infuriating the weed's words could be. He could only hope she had learned something worthwhile from the plant's sputtering. Clematis had a habit of sharing information. He would have made her stay here if he believed her to be in mortal danger, or there being nothing to be gained from the interaction.

Even at the slow pace which Nnoitra walked down the stairs, he doubted Aracelis would make it back by the time the Fifth had left the tower. It frustrated him that she could not follow his orders, but if she was just late and broke no other commands, then he would only moderately scold her.

His fists clenched tightly when he sensed a new development. On that wasn't entirely her fault he told himself as he waited for Nnoitra to leave so he could slip away to pay a visit to the monitoring room to confirm his suspicions.

These soul reapers were getting on his nerves. Gin, he'd never particularly like him, but now… If he had been playing with Aracelis on purpose…

* * *

Just as she thought, she was screwed, although in a very strange manner indeed.

She had gotten lost.

At some point, she had either gotten so turned around that she had lost all sense of direction, or the hallways were in different places. Judging that she ended up right behind a soul reaper, and that someone seemed to be funneling said soul reaper somewhere, the halls had, in fact, changed. What a stupid idea, having halls that could be manipulated. One of the _lovely_ traps someone came up with, according to Aisslinger. She'd been complaining about the rock-in-a-hallway trap she'd triggered when going to see them, and she'd asked him if any other stupid traps were waiting to piss her off.

The soul reaper was about as imposing as she had been the first time she'd seen her. The petite woman determinedly running down the hallway, Rukia Something-or-Another, didn't really look too threatening. She hadn't noticed Aracelis following her at only a short distance. Too focused on finding Orihime she wagered. Not that she had much choice about what distance she could follow at anyway. The lack of flash step meant she was stuck running at an incredibly sluggish pace by her standards; running ahead of the soul reaper, not knowing where she was and if she'd end up trapped in a dead end as the halls changed, it kept her trailing Rukia impatiently.

She found out the hard way that whoever was playing maze master was also blocking the halls to prevent the soul reaper from turning back- and successfully cutting off the inner rooms from the entrance. Trying to find another exit might be just as dangerous for Aracelis as trailing a soul reaper so closely. If she could use ceros to blast through walls, she could have _tried_ finding a different path. Las Noches, especially the underground sections, had many dead ends with walls thicker than she had time to punch through. With her luck, she would end up digging a hole in the sand instead of finding another hallway let alone an exit. Never mind if she accidently stumbled into another trap.

And the only other remotely nearby exit she knew about was though Szayelaporro's torture den- excuse her, _lab._ Like hell she would go that way. And, well, the soul reaper she didn't recognize had headed that direction. She did not envy them at all. Even if the scientist seemed to be on his way back from a meeting with Aizen, she adamantly refused to go that way. His Fracción were just as creepy as him.

She really hoped Ulquiorra wouldn't be too upset with her… He had left their quarters a little bit after Nnoitra did- although he seemed to be on the way back now after talking with Gin briefly. She had thought he had come to drag her back, but thankfully he must have had some other matter to attend to despite her getting herself into this situation. Still, he wouldn't be happy with her… Had the halls not been changing, she would have made it back just after Nnoitra had left the tower and moved away from the entrance. Late, but not horribly. Not to mention she wouldn't have ended up trapped behind the soul reaper.

A shiver ran down her spine. The next nearest building, it happened to be Aaroniero's quarters. Fish tank was waiting, presumably for the soul reaper, outside the entrance. She wondered if the Ninth had requested for Rukia to be sent his direction; manipulating halls like this ensured the meeting wouldn't be up to chance.

The dim light of the artificial sky brightened the hallway at long last. Before she sprinted ahead of the soul reaper, she decided she couldn't resist. She'd already failed avoiding the intruders, so why not?

"I won't go that way, soul reaper," she yelled, making Rukia freeze her sprint. She imagined the soul reaper's look of determination faltered when realizing she hadn't sensed anyone following her; startled, too, by the sudden screaming made louder in the stone hall. It brought a smile to her face. As Rukia whipped her head around to look over her shoulder, Aracelis used sonido to vault over the soul reaper's other shoulder, using the blind spot to escape without even a glimpse of her being seen. "Don't say I didn't warn you," she shouted mockingly, it echoing down the hall so she didn't have to remain in sight. She couldn't imagine Rukia besting even the likes of Aaroniero. Rukia having a vague sense that she could conceal her presence and how her voice sounded wouldn't be useful facts to a person charging to their demise.

If this was all the speed the group of intruders could muster, they would all die. Strength sometimes became secondary when your head rolls across the floor in a surprise decapitation. Perhaps Orihime had made the correct decision in trying to keep her friends from fighting the Espada; too bad it backfired because they felt protective of her as well, and came to save her from saving them. An unavoidable mess, really.

She never paused, able to use sonido to speed to the tower. Unfortunately, she hadn't used the exit on top of Las Noches- she thought it would be quicker to go this way, but in hindsight the other way would have at least allowed her to avoid being trapped behind an intruder. She always ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now she had to walk up stairs upon stairs to get back to their room- she wouldn't dare break anything in the tower to make shortcuts. She could sense Ulquiorra waiting for her now… He'd agree most of it wasn't her fault, right? But she still felt bad, since she had failed to follow his orders even after he trusted her enough to go do something as dumb as talking with Clematis.

* * *

When the door slowly swung upon, he looked to it, shoving his hands into his pockets as he narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. She stepped in timidly, closing the door quietly, hesitating a moment before turning back to look at him. Her attention flickered to his face briefly only to fall to the floor guiltily. Neither of them spoke. For her, the silent expression of irritation showed his thoughts better than words. Even if he was one to raise his voice, it would only scare her; he merely wanted to express his disappointment, not terrify her.

"Ulquiorra," she started nervously, only to bit her lip. Rather apprehensively she closed the gap between them. When she reached out, he took a half-step back despite being unsure of what effect the action would have. He did not want to comfort her since she had disobeyed simple orders meant to protect her. Had she left on time, she would have likely avoided becoming trapped behind Rukia. She lowered her hand back to her side, nodding, seeming to understand. "Can I explain what happened, Ulquiorra?"

"Will you be making excuses for yourself?"

"No," she said, copying his slightly irritated tone. "I would have probably been late no matter what happened, but not this much. And I'll admit I punched Clematis because she got on my nerves." She pointed a finger at him, adding, "I didn't use spiritual pressure, though, so I'll argue that doesn't count anyway." After grumbling to herself about the plant, she continued. "I'd gotten distracted by Clematis rambling about Aizen." She narrowed her eyes at him like she knew the thought 'This sounds like an excuse.' crossed his mind. He couldn't decide if her snippy attitude pleased him or not. On one hand, she didn't seem terrified of him despite having done something to displease him. On the other, she had been the one to break the agreed upon rules, and should not be angry with him. Then again, her attitude might be aimed at the frustrating weed still. "When I left, I ended up behind that soul reaper, Rukia. Then I had to follow her because someone decided to play with the passageways. I was lost, okay? At first, I just wanted to use that exit because I would get back here sooner, but when the halls started changing I couldn't backtrack and try a different route. I couldn't avoid the soul reaper, either. I was sort of out of options at that point, so I followed behind her. I figured whoever was manipulating the halls was directing her somewhere outside, or at least somewhere I could recognize."

He believed her obviously. The Ninth and the soul reaper appeared to be having a conversation now, as they were in the same room yet their fight remained a rather lazy game of tag. He did not know why the Ninth or Gin had chosen to have Rukia Kuchiki directed there, but he didn't particularly care either. Gin had not been intent on having Aracelis and the soul reaper meet; he could have easily trapped them in a space to cause a fight had that been his desire. No, Gin's reason did not matter at all since it had nothing to do with Aracelis. The fact she ended up a part of the plot nonetheless did irritate him, though.

"You believe me, right?"

"I do." His answer made her let out a relieved sigh. "I am still annoyed with you," he reminded her.

"I know. I still was late and pretty much tried to start a fight with plant-brain. But, I guess…" She rolled her eyes dramatically. "I guess what Clematis had said made sense. You would have been able to justify coming to save me from her while still avoiding the intruders. If I ended up fighting one of the intruders, though, you would have had to break Aizen's orders. Stupid weed used that explanation to distract me… And I won't bother the intruders, I promise, since it'll get you in trouble if you need to come help me." She had no idea how wrong her assumption was; she would be the one facing punishment. The damn weed knew as much. She had either hoped to help Aracelis avoid that fate, or cause it to upset Ulquiorra. Creature saw both as a victory.

"What had been your purpose in speaking with her?" He could find no logical explanation that Aracelis would act on. Seeking out the weed, it had been a sudden urge from what he could tell. Reactionary to what he had told her, he believed.

"I, ah… I went to yell at her." His blank stare made her smile awkwardly. "It's just… After you told me where you'd been, I figured Clematis would have used that memory against you. That really pissed me off!" She stomped her foot on the ground. Apparently, she hadn't relieved her anger after screaming at Clematis; satiating her need would have required more violence than words could supply her. "Replaying something like that is completely awful and unforgiveable!" After seething for a moment longer, she crossed her arms over her chest, huffing a final time before attempting to calm down. "I know it was reckless, but I needed to at least scream at her for it."

He blinked slowly. Impulsive and quick tempered, but he expected as much. He allowed her to leave under the assumption she would go yell her frustrations, whatever they were, to the weed- he only wished she followed the restrictions meant to protect her. Still, he hoped she learned something useful. When he took a small step forward and removed a hand from his pocket, she tilted her head curiously. He ran a finger down her ribcage, following a tear in the fabric of her shirt that had obviously been cut open. "And how did you receive this?"

"From Clematis when I punched her," she mumbled, perhaps hoping he would miss the already healed injury. She was lucky. Getting a minor cut from the weed's sword was infinity better than being caught in the creature's vines. "She riled me up. She kept saying very cruel things about you and I… I snapped. Before I even really noticed how stupid I was being in getting so close, I already had her sword in my side."

"You did this over an insult. An insult towards me, no less."

"You wouldn't do the same for me?"

He stared back at her instead of answering 'yes.' Technically yes, as the Fifth's words had been a threat more than an insult. All the same, he had lashed out to shut the delinquent up.

"You have?" She leaned forward, appearing excited he would defend her.

"I struck the Fifth when he dared to speak of you in a crude manner," he admitted, her imagination of Nnoitra's reaction sending her into a fit of laughter, although she added she would rather not hear what Nnoitra had said because she knew it would be disgusting. Once she stifled her merriment some, he directly asked, "Did you learn anything useful while speaking with the weed?"

Immediately she became serious. "Not much, really. I had been attempting to ask Clematis if she knew about instinct, as in a yes or no question and that's it, but instinct wasn't having any of that. Made me almost pass out too." If she hadn't added the 'yes or no' explanation, he would have interrupted. He told her not to search for answers about instinct. Perhaps he should have specified that even simple questions could get her in trouble with the ever fearful Mirro. An oversight on his part. For it to make her almost pass out while she was uninjured, it was a worrying, but useful fact. "Also pointless to ask, since you already knew that Clematis knew," she added. "Wouldn't bother keeping that thing alive if there was another option."

His attention briefly drifted away from her face. Clematis's survival was a sign of his growing desperation. Aracelis surely saw that. She said it innocently, of course. She had not intended him to take it as a jab at how pathetic it was that he might very well have to rely on the weed for help.

"That made me mad, too, because she doesn't seem scared of me at all," she complained, drawing his attention back to her. After pouting for a second she grumbled, "Why the hell does she act like this? I mean, she keeps offering information to me, but she also tries to kill me all of the time. I don't get it."

He didn't understand the weed's actions either. Last time she had claimed it as justice and revenge. Judging that she did not attack Aracelis today, she may have just been emotional over the death of the mosquito, her threat of killing Aracelis herself an empty one. In any case, Clematis held the least animosity towards Aracelis. "She claimed to be infatuated with you," he offered, that the only explanation the plant had given besides hating him and Mirro.

Aracelis's eyes went wide before she raised an eyebrow. As her genuine puzzlement came to include incoherent sputtering and mortification, he found her confusion quite… adorable, he supposed. "She shows it in a damn weird way," she settled on, her brain apparently giving up on trying to figure out how Clematis's actions showed that she liked her. They didn't, of course. The plant's views were completely abnormal, and her conflicting actions only added to her overall insanity. If there was someone devoid of all rationality, it was Clematis as she teetered between wishing death or life upon Aracelis on fleeting whims.

In the silence, she lost interest in standing around, walking around him on an obvious path to the bed. He caught her wrist before she flung herself onto the sheets, dragging her back a few steps.

"Come on, Ulquiorra, I just wanted to sit down," she whined, shaking her arm in halfhearted attempt to escape. "You can yell at me all you want while I'm sitting."

"I am still displeased with you." No matter why it happened, she had lashed out at the weed without thinking, which very well could have initiated a fight requiring him to come rescue her. She had also been late- even discounting the halls being changed, she wouldn't have made it back on time. He would not be allowing her to leave again. "Although that is not the issue currently." He took another few steps, gently pulling her behind him. "You are going to shower." The moment she had walked in, he had seen the coating of white dust clinging to her skin. Her hair even had bits of rubble in it. She was _not_ going to lie down on _their_ bed with how filthy she was. He would never allow for it. When he stopped in front of the bathroom door, she crashed into his back. After freeing her from his grip and glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "How much structural damage did you cause on your outing?"

"How did…" His words must have fallen into place in her mind because she looked at her arm. Her attention then shifted to the side, her face flushed with embarrassment. "Two doors, a few tiles, and, I don't know, seven-ish walls."

"As destructive as ever, I see."

"Yeah… You're not going to make me fix everything, are you?" When he pretended to debate the idea, she laughed a few times- how she managed to catch his attempts at humor was something else. Clearly, he wouldn't send her back towards the humans, even if everyone had found opponents at this point- discounting Kurosaki, who had already moved on. That was no longer his responsibility, his previous threat to keep her from destroying Las Noches now void. "Okay, I'll go rinse off before I get everything dirty. Then we can watch all of these battles with pesquisa and talk about that Ichigo kid's weird ability."

He gave a slight nod, Aracelis smiling at him before turning to go accomplish her new task. With her gone, he went to sit down in his chair to do just as she wanted. Monitoring the battles was the best course of action until he received other orders. Of course, the only one remotely interesting to him had already concluded with Dordoni's defeat. Even unobservant Aracelis found the kid odd.

He had yet to understand Aizen's interest in the human boy. Yes, he would admit the human had potential considering the peaks in his spiritual pressure as it fluctuated, as well as the fact the boy had appeared to have rapidly grown stronger since initially seeing him and developed a technique that made him more hollow-like, but for someone like Aizen, Ichigo Kurosaki could not possibly pose a threat. It was something else, then. Something he could not figure out. He wished to actually battle the kid just to prove his analysis right, that the boy was nothing special, or find why Aizen held such interest in him. And, well, he wanted something to take _his_ frustrations on- Aracelis had her fun.

One thing was certain, though. Aracelis would not be leaving this tower again. She would unfortunately become a prisoner to it like the human woman. He could not be lenient with her again, not with her life at risk.

* * *

 **I had to go do some last minute fixes because I totally blanked Ulquiorra had spoken to Gin while the hall changing was going on. That's why Ulquiorra isn't too upset with her, making her admit she had done wrong enough for the moment. She's not very good at the whole following orders thing, obviously.**

 **Hahaa, I have a bad memory so it's good that I can go back and look whenever I need. This covers mainly episode 150 and 151, which is their arrival to Dordoni's defeat, with 154 being the one that shows Gin playing with the halls.**

 **Thank you everyone reading!**

 **Thank you to mcgc26 and vanillacandy0 for following and/or favoriting!**

 **thestormwriter123 \- I'm glad you're so impressed with Ulquiorra's development! I've tried really hard to keep him in character, but also develop his character more than canon could, so I'm glad to see that goal is being met! And without a single instance of being ooc? Thank you! While now I've grown pretty used to writing for him, being ooc is always a concern when it comes to taking an emotionally vacant character and making them **_**like**_ **someone.**

 **haipa-chan \- Oh yeah, I've been waiting to finally give that 'heart to heart' between them for a while! I'm glad it was heartwarming that they finally had a moment where they could share some rather intense facts about themselves so they could see they are quite similar in the end. And Ulquiorra is totally not thrilled with Aizen- now he's in the reluctant cooperation boat Aracelis is in. Ichigo and co are there and lurking, the upcoming battles my favorites from the anime (and why I rewatched it and this story happened). There is still stuff to be done before everything can be brought back to chapter one :) And Aracelis's future battle I'm excited to type! As predicted for this chapter, talking with Clematis can never go well- just with less resulting chaos than the last 'visits.' Aracelis, Mirro, and Ulquiorra are all reaching a stalemate, but unfortunately Clematis has all the answers (as she is the author's pet indeed). Anyway, I'm glad you're excited to see all the future things I've got planned! Thank you for reviewing and leaving all of these lovely predictions for me to read! **

**The Shy Scorpio- Haha, Clematis's attack being beneficial was my plan! Every time Clematis does something, she's pushed them closer together as a somewhat unintended result. I find antagonists that occasionally help the protagonists to be rather entertaining, Clematis taking it to an odd, nonsensical extreme. Ulquiorra seeing his human past really has weighed on him; he doesn't want to be human because look at how 'great' it was for him. He's scared of it all repeating, the fact Aracelis is similar to the past girl making him more nervous. I'm glad that it's all come together to 'humanize' him a bit! Cornering him takes something other than physical strength after all. Aracelis needed Clematis's attack to see she didn't need to so afraid of Ulquiorra, and a nudge from Orihime so she actually talked to him about her feelings; and help him some, since he won't accept help from anyone else. Happy that came together too! And I hope Aracelis's frustrating conversation with Clematis entertained you this chapter! Ulquiorra talking with Orihime again will be next chapter, going with the canon conversation, but with some variation, and of course, Ulquiorra's exact thoughts. I'm glad everything's timing has paired well with canon, so thank you for saying so! And that first chapter has to come back around at some point, yeah? I'll keep working away until the story is done; I'm very invested in this, and I'll glad so many other people like you are too! And I figured it was your review last time because of the nice length and analysis all excitedly typed. Thank you do much for reviewing again, I really enjoy reading your thoughts since they help me see if things are on track or give me ideas!**

 **Shelby- Wow, this is quite a long read for one sitting! I'm happy it kept you so interested that you read it all at once! And that you think so highly of it! That aren't many Ulquiorra and OC stories, really, so I wanted to make one for others to read; since he is one of my long-time favorites. It's fun but challenging developing his character, and giving more depth to his personality, so I'm glad it's working. I'm really happy that you like Aracelis as a character too, since OCs run the risk of being overpowered or uninteresting or what have you. I wanted her to stand out but still fit in with the canon world. I'm glad that Mirro hasn't totally inhibited her ability to be badass! Also, happy to hear you like the switching between POVs- I wish I would have done it at the beginning more, because it's a lot easier to keep their feelings and reactions separate this way. And, well, Ulquiorra thinks a ton more than he admits to. In a bizarre way, I'm also pleased that you cried because eliciting emotion for characters is strange goal of mine- and, well, I teared up a few times while making their pasts, especially Ulquiorra, so I wanted to get that despair they felt across in writing. Anyway, before I have another story down here, thank you for the review! It's great to hear that you've enjoyed my writing style, the characters, and the story! **


	39. Chapter 39- Control

"I'm coming in."

That was his sole warning to the girl before he stepped into the room, wanting this chore out of the way. The woman looked over her shoulder, a glare in place as she watched him walk to the center of the room. "It seems you've noticed." He had his doubts that the girl could sense what had transpired, but she had proven deceptively proficient at reading spiritual pressures. For a human. "That idiot Nnoitra was impatient." After leaving, the Fifth decided to search out someone else to entertain himself with. One of the woman's human friends had the misfortune of stumbling into Nnoitra. "We were ordered to wait in our palaces," he added, annoyed that Aizen chose ignore the Fifth's actions. The idiot was still outside even, waiting for another challenger.

"Chad isn't dead."

The girl's absolute certainty made him glance off to the side. A recent habit, Aracelis at the center of it as she picked up on his thoughts through micro-expressions; he didn't need the human doing the same. He found Orihime's defensiveness amusing. She had automatically assumed he was there to manipulate her- which hadn't been the case, for once. While it wasn't outright fear at his presence, she at least remained wary of his intentions. He could use that against her with ease. A few words would be enough to bring her back to complacency, while making him awful enough that she wouldn't pity him.

"He isn't dead," she repeated firmly again. When he glanced back at her, he said nothing. The look they exchanged showed she was determined to keep denying what would soon become a fact. That boy may be alive for the moment, but without someone intervening, he would bleed to death. It surprised him that the woman wasn't begging to go help her friend.

"Come in," he said passively, stepping to the side as the waiting servant pushed in a cart of food. The servant quickly left the room- even he knew how annoyed Ulquiorra had become with the human. Having to personally address this issue showed his lack of control over her. "Your meal. Eat." This would be the last time he asked nicely. He had been patient, letting servants bring in food only for her to reject it, but a human would not tolerate another day without eating. She had made this his problem. If she continued this disobedience, he would make her regret it.

"I don't need it."

"Staying alive until Lord Aizen calls on you is also part of your job. Eat." Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her eyes widening before she stubbornly looked to the ground in a clear refusal. "Shall I force it down your throat?" Passive threats no longer impacted her, so this is what it came to. How irritating this human was. Aracelis had already tested his nerves in disobeying orders. If the human tried it as well, he wouldn't be above using physical means of persuasion on her. "Or shall I tie you down and simply give you nutritional injections?"

Even as he took a few steps towards her, she kept her attention on her feet. "Chad isn't dead," she repeated once more, either to change the topic away from eating or… He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You're pestering me. That doesn't matter. What do you want me to say?" Seeking comfort from him, it grated on his last nerve, as Aracelis would say. This human woman still thought of him as what Clematis had shown her. "Do you want me to tell you not to worry, and that he's alive? How silly. I'm not here to comfort you." She didn't seem to understand that Aracelis was the _only_ one he offered any kindness. He did not care about this girl beyond that she was Aizen's property. She didn't understand that he would not empathize with her situation. "I don't understand. Why are you making such a fuss over whether he's alive or dead?" Her head shot up at him playing dumb. "Whatever the case, all your friends will soon perish. Who cares if one of them perished early? They should have known from the beginning that this would happen."

"Stop." The weak warning betrayed how upset she had become. Good. Perhaps this would put an end to the girl sympathizing with him because of the memories of thathuman. He was a damn hollow. She should be more aware of that fact.

"If they didn't realize this, their foolishness is responsible." Her taken aback gasp and hurt expression seemed like a victory to him. "You should just laugh it off and tell yourself that they were fools. Why can't you do that?" The increasing look of anger and frustration on Orihime's face only made him want to continue. "If I were you, I'd be angry that they were foolish enough to come to Hueco Mundo without knowing the limits of their strength."

The sound echoed endlessly in the silent room.

He kept his face turned, shocked that this human woman had the audacity to slap him. Aracelis never struck him no matter how upset she became with him. He wished she would, actually, now that he thought about it. It certainly got him to shut up quickly. As the initial shock waned, his irritation with the human woman grew. To physically attack him, it either meant the girl was a complete idiot, or she didn't fear repercussions for her actions.

"Y-you're lying," Orihime said, voice raised, slipping up her words when she began to realize she just slapped an Espada across the face. "She's your friend. You wouldn't call her foolish for trying to help you. Even saying that is incredibly inconsiderate towards her feelings. Saying hurtful things like that… N-no wonder she's so nervous to tell you how she feels." He wished she'd continue, her words intriguing him. He thought Aracelis had already admitted how she felt, but somehow what she told Orihime had contradicted this assumption of his. The extent of her feelings, perhaps? "S-so don't pretend that… that you don't understand…" Orihime's words tapered off as she fought the tears welling in her eyes.

When he slowly looked back at her, she remained quietly overwhelmed, on the brink of crying. He'd broken her mask of control over her emotions. Right now, this human was stressed in innumerable ways; no matter how strong her will, she couldn't handle his denial of truth and cruel words presently. He turned on his heel, not wanting to listen to the girl sob. "I'll come again in an hour." He sent a final glance over his shoulder as he added, "If you haven't eaten by then, I'll tie you down and shove it down your throat. Prepare yourself."

The door closing behind him marked only the beginning of this chore, he felt. The surprise that she had slapped him hadn't abated either.

He walked down the hall, sensing an all too familiar void drawing in all the radiant spirit energy. Once around the corner he found Aracelis leaning against a wall, a small smile her greeting when they met gazes. Quickly she tilted her head to the side.

"Something happen?" Aracelis asked curiously, leaning closer to him, apparently noticing something in his otherwise blank expression. He was tempted to call this a remarkable talent considering he couldn't figure out how she did it. Perhaps it came from the fact he relaxed when around her, letting his guard drop a bit. Another sign he had no control… but he didn't really care much because it was Aracelis. She meant no harm. "Ulquiorra?" She came close to raising a hand to wave it in front of his face.

Before she got the chance, he honestly answered, "She slapped me."

"Really!?" Her eyes got wide as she likely imagined the delicate human striking him. "Damn," she said after a moment. "You must have said something really mean to get someone like her to hit you. I'd ask if you were okay, but considering I can slam a sword into you without effect, the girl wouldn't be able to do a thing. Other than annoy you. She's good at that. She still refusing to eat?"

"The woman has one last chance." He wouldn't say more than that to Aracelis. She already disapproved of his treatment of the human.

She sighed before nodding her head a couple of times. "Hopefully she listens. I don't want to know what you're going to do if she doesn't. She has to be upset over her friend; I imagine you commented on it. That why she hit you?" Just to satiate her curiosity, he tipped his head enough to confirm her suspicions. Aracelis shrugged before pushing herself away from the wall. "So, what now? Back to sensing the battles? That Rukia girl doesn't seem to be doing so well. Oh, and the Ren…"

"Renji Abarai," he finished. Names remained a challenge for her- even when he told her it an hour ago. She had been more interested in discussing the Kurosaki boy's odd abilities than insignificant details like the names of the others.

"Yeah, him. He's getting played around with by science freak. I wish-" she cut herself off, a narrow-eyed glare on her face as she turned around.

The sound of footsteps faded once the servant stood at the end of the hall. Ulquiorra switched his attention from Aracelis's pouting to them when he heard the shuffling of paper. Across their notebook, they had a simple message scrawled: 'Lord Aizen wishes to see you.' Considering the method of delivery, the order was not urgent, but curious all the same.

"Prick. Always stealing you from me," Aracelis mouthed, Ulquiorra catching it as he looked back at her. Her cheeks flushed slightly at being caught badmouthing their leader again- at least she had the mind to not say it aloud. While this particular servant did not seem to care whose authority they were under, Aracelis did not need to make a habit of this insubordination in front of others. He enjoyed her comments in private, however, as he was beginning to agree with her.

The servant understood to leave. After a bow, they quietly, but swiftly, walked away. When they were out of earshot, he immediately ordered, "Don't follow after me. Don't leave the tower. Don't speak with the woman."

"I said sorry," she mumbled, not appreciating his tone. She failed to hide the sadness behind the mock complaint. He was glad he didn't do more than say she had annoyed him; the idea of him being disappointed in her was punishment enough. She suddenly straightened her back, expression serious. "I won't go anywhere. I promise, Ulquiorra. I don't want you to get in trouble with Aizen over me doing something stupid." Her words were laced with sincerity, her guilt almost tangible. She glanced to the side, adding, "Or for you to be more upset with me."

"Aracelis." At the sound of her name, her eyes darted back to his face. He took a hand from his pocket, gently resting it on the side of her face after brushing a few strands of hair out of the way. "I do not know what order I will receive, nor how long I will be gone. It would be safest for you to remain here," he explained instead. She nodded her head, his expression of concern making her understand the situation's gravity. Ordering her around never worked; appealing to her in this manner did. He would not be able to intervene if she got in trouble this time. Not with direct orders from Aizen- assuming the soul reaper had an actual task for him. "I am no longer… upset… with you," he added, hoping she did not cling to the guilt for much longer. If she didn't put herself at risk again, he could forgive her. Tardiness did not warrant a grudge. She gave a twitch of a smile as she placed her hand over his, leaning closer, waiting patiently. He met his lips to hers briefly. Too quickly for even his liking, he turned around, beginning his reluctant walk to meet with Aizen.

"I will return as soon as I am able." Leaving her alone… The idea worried him. Too many things could potentially go wrong. He wanted whatever task he would be assigned to be done so he could return to her.

"See you soon, then, Ulquiorra." He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the single wave she aimed at him. "I'll be good, I promise. I won't let you down again."

He would try trusting her to keep out of trouble once more…

* * *

Green light flooded her vision before a white tidal wave of dust choked the air under the dome of Las Noches.

' _Shit!'_

Pain surged through her head, making her sway, almost falling to the sand. The confusion made things much worse. That blast of energy, it had been a cero. Ulquiorra's cero. One shot from a distance away. Her eyes went wide as she finally recognized she was outside. Why? When? She couldn't even answer simple questions with the splitting pain cracking her skull apart.

' _Go back to sleep, bitch!'_ Instinct hissed, her vision blacking out for a second, her legs quivering beneath her. _'Damn bastard! Why the hell did he fire that!? You weren't supposed to wake up! I'm not done yet!'_

Instinct… instinct had taken control over her. She didn't remember falling asleep, but after Ulquiorra left, she suddenly felt exhausted. That surge of spiritual pressure a few moments before she pried her eyes open, it had been Ichigo's as he went into Bankai with that strange mask on. Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure had actually woken her up. Wait, then Ulquiorra was fighting Ichigo? Had to be. He didn't let off ceros for fun- although that one was quite excessive. Where? Focusing enough to use pesquisa with the enraged screeching in her head felt impossible.

' _Damn it! Just! Pass! Out!'_

A strangled gasp escaped her as everything went dark. The right side of her body, she couldn't… She couldn't feel anything. The left side of her body shook uncontrollably as panic set in. Why? Why did it need control right now? What was it planning to do? Question after question ran through her mind, accelerated by fear and anger.

' _Just shut up already! I'm going to kill that damn bitch since you didn't! And then get the hell out of here!'_ She wasn't the only one panicked. Instinct, under the rage, sounded terrified. _'She needs to die! Now! Stop fighting me!'_

Clematis. It still wanted to kill the weed, obviously. And escape? From where, Las Noches? Another wave of nauseating pain sent her to her knees, paralyzed right side limp and useless. How… how much control did instinct have to do this!? It let out a hissing scream in frustration as she adamantly refused to pass out. No way would she give in. It had something planned.

She fully lost sight in her right eye, left switching between blurred and black. Her head pounded, pressure squeezing her brain in a vice-grip. With her left hand, she reached for her right shoulder. A cero or bala. Take it all off. Anything would be less painful than her head imploding.

' _No!'_ it spat. Her nails dug into her wrist. The bruising grip made her chest tighten. Her right side, it wasn't just numb. She didn't have control over it. It might as well be instinct's arm. As her right hand grasped her left wrist, her breathing turned to shallow, quick breathes. _'Pass out! Or I swear, I'm taking off this damn arm!'_ Usually, that would have meant nothing to her, but this… this _thing_ could stop her regeneration. It had before. She'd pass out from blood loss, and it'd have what it wanted. A pained smirk tried to form on her face.

'Go ahead,' she mentally told instinct, unable to force out actual words, her focus on trying to control her spiritual pressure. Even instinct couldn't control everything while she was awake- it needed her asleep, injured, or passed out for a reason, after all. Controlling half her body, causing pain, restraining her spiritual pressure; it couldn't possibly do it all at once. Spiking her spiritual pressure ensured Ulquiorra would show up before she bled to death even if it did sever her left arm and stop her regeneration- playing with Ichigo wouldn't take long with the world of difference between their strengths. Even if it did get control, Ulquiorra would come investigate. He would stop instinct before it accomplished its goals. Or, if instinct focused on controlling her spiritual pressure, she'd get her arm free to tear into her shoulder. How convenient that it backed itself into a corner.

' _Damn it!'_ The shout rattled around in her skull like an explosion, making her pinch her eyes closed. She grit her teeth as she tried to will her spiritual pressure to spike. _'Don't you dare call him here! I won't let you win, whore,'_ it hissed. _'Subjugate, San-'_

Silence.

Her right arm slowly fell to the side, fingers releasing their death hold on her left wrist. Even the bruises faded from sight. The black edges creeping in on her vision retreated from both eyes. While her head still pounded with agony, her right side horribly numb, she felt rather normal. Just like that. Half a second and it was gone like a figment of her imagination. Her ragged breathing remained as the fear continued to race through her body.

Why did it just give up? Still too out of sorts, she couldn't use pesquisa to sense any significant change around her. Maybe Ulquiorra had finished off Ichigo. Sooner or later, he would notice that she wasn't safely sitting around their room. She only needed to bide time until he arrived or the numbness wore off enough that she could use sonido. Spiking her spiritual pressure now, unable to sense if anyone else was around her, might be a bad idea.

Either way she'd be telling Ulquiorra everything she'd just learned. Hopefully he would find it useful.

But that last sentence of instinct's ate at her. It'd been saying a sword command… She didn't have her sword with her, as Ulquiorra'd stashed it somewhere. Did… did that make the bastard voice an Arrancar? Instinct was another hollow? How did that even work? She thought she had ruled that out as impossible…

Carefully, she stood up on shaking legs. Couldn't think about that now, if at all. She needed to drag her half corpse somewhere hidden. Standing in the open, barely able to move, it would get her killed by the intruders running about- or an opportunistic Espada with a grudge. Reaching the tower would be a long shot. Instinct had reached the halfway mark to where Clematis had stowed away. With her numb leg, she awkwardly limped through the uneven sand. Staying upright was a challenge she didn't foresee having to deal with today. Nor momentarily being on Ulquiorra's bad side twice because of happenstance.

* * *

Ulquiorra landed on the rubble covered floor, watching passively as Ichigo crawled out from under a boulder created from the shattered wall. The boy wouldn't be able to put up further resistance. From the blood running down his face and his heavy, exhausted breathing, he could see this battle had come to a quick, unsatisfying end.

"You brought out that mask when you blocked my cero, didn't you?" The boy gave a defiant glare as his answer. He would be dead if he hadn't. "Your reaction time is impressive. But, this time, it broke instantaneously." How pathetic. A mere cero could kill him without that odd mask ability. To be this injured after partially blocking a cero and a single kick, that was truly weakness. "You can't bring it out again." The ability appeared to have drained his energy. Combined with the injuries he sustained, this was the end. "Give up."

He felt his eyes widen as the tip of a blade pressed into his chest. The pressure wasn't enough to even tear the fabric of his shirt, but the act itself irritated him. The boy, did he not understand he had lost? Could he not tell that continuing to fight was pointless?

"I'll never surrender," Ichigo stated after a long pause, catching his breath. "You're the leader of the Espada, aren't you? That means that if I defeat you, this battle is pretty much won!"

"I see…" Laughable. This boy had no idea what he was up against if he thought he was the First. The amount of power the kid would have to gain in the next few hours to even hope of matching his own was astronomical. Completely impossible. "It looks as if you've been misinformed." He would destroy this child's hope of winning, of protecting his friends. They would all die here. Nothing could change their fate. No one could save them. The weak could only watch everyone around them die before they too met their inevitable end. Once he gripped the black blade, he moved it to the side, tearing his shirt open as he revealed the left side of his chest.

Ichigo fell silent as he stared at the rank. Eventually he lowered his sword, unable to divide his attention between holding the blade up and the crushing hopelessness of the situation making it through his apparently stubborn skull. "You're… the fourth," he forced out eventually, horror-struck.

"Yes… Espada number Four, Ulquiorra Cifer. Of all the Espada, my strength ranks fourth." His fingertips sank into Ichigo's chest. Using him to relieve his frustration had proven useless. His orders from Aizen were completed. He no longer had interest in this. "Ichigo Kurosaki, it's pointless. You cannot defeat me. You can try a thousand times." The boy went limp, losing consciousness quickly. Ulquiorra pulled his hand out, blood spurting onto the ground before Ichigo fell forward into a growing pool of red. "The result will always be the same. You will not be victorious." Fighting an impossibly stronger foe would always lead to the same conclusion.

"It seems that I overestimated you," he stated. "Your development didn't meet my expectations." Aizen had sent him to test the boy's strength since they last met. He thought it would be more informative than the kid's fight with Dordoni- an enemy he held not grudge against. Even after baiting him with the fact he had been the one to take the woman, Ichigo remained a disappointment. Aizen seemed convinced that this child would be a worthy enemy or ally, but Ulquiorra still didn't see it. Even with his ability to use that hollow mask, he had lost without offering much resistance. "This is the end." He turned, walking away. "If you can still move in that condition, leave this place immediately. If you can't move, then die there." He doubted he boy would survive, and he didn't particularly care either way. Aizen had given no rule against killing Ichigo if he proved an unworthy adversary. "Your path ends here, soul reaper."

He left Ichigo to die.

Despite having used her to further motivate the boy into fighting, he felt no need to kill Nelliel. He did not expect that she had been alive all this time, wandering the wastes of Hueco Mundo in the body of child, without memory or her former power. For her to return in such a weakened state had been foolish. The crack to her skull and mask most likely came from Nnoitra- although he did not see how the Fifth managed to land such a blow. Whatever the case, he did not have the patience to dig through the rubble to either retrieve or kill the former Third- especially when he didn't imagine her waking up soon enough to help the boy.

With this task out of the way, he would return to the tower to inform Aracelis of the next stage of the war. In a few hours, Aizen would be leaving for Karakura. The top three Espada, their Fracción, and Wonderweiss would be joining the siege. Ulquiorra would be placed in charge of Las Noches and eliminating any remaining intruders- or, as Aizen predicted, reinforcements from the Soul Society. Aracelis could enjoy the power-high of being his second in command when the time came.

It took only a second of pesquisa to cause him to abruptly come to a stop. The first thing he sensed made him oblivious to everything else around him, his sole focus on an area void of energy. An area that was far away from their quarters.

She broke her promise.

From her location, it appeared she had sneaked out to do something as stupid as watch him fight the soul reaper. He should have noticed sooner, but he had foolishly focused on his battle with Ichigo to analyze the kid's progress.

She had lied to him. After all those words promising that she would stay safe in the tower, she left to stand in the open. It made him clench his hands into tight fists, while his teeth wanted nothing more than to gnash against each other. So much for trusting her to be responsible. She didn't seem to understand that the protection he could offer her was so pathetically limited that even then she might die. Deliberately taking unnecessary risks would get her killed. He… he would be helpless to prevent her death; he already questioned his ability to keep her safe, yet she kept ignoring him. She didn't understand. She didn't understand that if she died…

He hated these emotions. All of the anger, and worse, the fear, he loathed that he felt it. The frustration of everything, he hadn't found a way to deal with it. Instead, with every passing transgression by Aracelis and others, it built. He felt like he was a moment away from snapping. Indifference felt unobtainable.

Within a second of sensing her location and the flurry of thoughts, he changed direction. In moments, he stood before her, startling her into freezing her slow walk. Immediately she looked over the state of his clothes, seeing his shirt had been shredded in the short battle. She must have caught something in his expression. As soon as she met his eyes, she nervously bit her lip.

"Ulquiorra, I-"

"Quiet." Her mouth hung open at him talking over her. Not in shock, either. No, she felt hurt by his coldness. "You appear incapable of following simple orders." He turned around, adding, "I have been far too lenient with you." He couldn't let her displace the blame this time; that made it too easy for her to get away with doing reckless things. "Follow."

The finality in his tone should have been enough to end the conversation. Instead she refused to move, no sound of footsteps to be heard. It forced him to look over his shoulder in warning.

"Ulqui-"

"You claimed concern at me being punished by Aizen. Had you feigned that concern? Are your promises lies? Do you perhaps wish for me to be punished? In any case, know that _you_ are my punishment, woman." He averted his eyes to ground guiltily, unable to stand the growing shine in her eyes. That… that had been a bit dramatic and, worse, outright cruel. She already felt a burden to him. Phrasing it like she had always been something to punish him with, he had gone too far. The flash of rage at discovering she had left the tower had abated quickly. Had he not been a complete, unobservant idiot when he arrived, he would have noticed she already appeared quite upset by something. His commentary added to the problem. Now he was just needlessly upsetting her, like he always did.

"If I hesitate to carry out his orders to instead protect you, he'll harm you. He knows that you are more important to me than my own life," he admitted, hoping the explanation would dispel his formally intended miscommunication. He took a step forward. "Follow," he repeated, this time softer. He tried to ignore her saying his name again, continuing to walk. He wanted to return to the closed space of the tower. They could talk there with a lesser possibility of someone interrupting.

"Ulquiorra, come back," she shouted after him. When he refused, he heard her try to stomp through the sand, on the way to grab him. And then a quiet 'thud.' He whipped around, understanding that she fell, but unsure _why_. She had landed face first in sand, spitting out dirt as she cussed under her breath. When she attempted to stand, she favored her right side, like she had been severely injured. Her clothes showed no sign of this, the only tear the one from Clematis- which she still wore, claiming to be out of shirts. Without thinking, he used sonido to quickly go to her side. She glared at him when he grabbed her left wrist, hauling her to her feet.

"Ulquiorra Cifer, listen to me for a damn second!" she screamed in his face, pulling her arm away, almost falling back over. "I get that you're upset and worried," Aracelis mumbled, her expression briefly flickering to understanding, "but please, listen to me. I didn't come out here!" The tremble in her voice made him regret acting so childishly. She felt scared… or rather terrified by whatever had happened in his absence. "Instinct did."

He stared, the two words bouncing around his head like an omen. Mirro had taken initiative. He left her alone and that creature took control, dragging her out into the open. "Did it injure you?" The reason she had no external damage but appeared unable to use the right side of her body, Mirro had done something to her.

With his attention finally on what she was saying, she gave a weak smile. It felt like a knife had been twisted into his chest. He should have listened to her from the beginning. "I guess, after you left, I fell asleep. I started to sense you fighting Ichigo. The next thing I knew, I woke up with your cero exploding in the distance. It said something about killing Clematis, and then escaping." She shifted uncomfortably, frowning. "I had to fight with it for control. My body just… It just stopped working. Instinct had control of my right side, and it grabbed my left arm and threatened to tear it off. It was going to stop my regeneration and let me bleed until I lost consciousness." Her words grew quieter as she went. "I tried to flare my spiritual pressure to call for you. I guess instinct thought it was losing, and it sensed you had finished your battle, so it just… It just went away. I still can't really feel the right side of my body." She paused, biting her lip, eyes on the ground. Her voice shook as she whispered, "I didn't… I didn't know it could…"

"Aracelis…" She felt terrified by its level of control. As did he. Even if he knew the monster could steal away control as she slept, he didn't know it could completely take over half her body while she was awake. He reached out, unsure if she would want his comfort after ignoring how scared she felt at the recent turn of events. When he hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, she looked up from the ground to him.

"I-it's an Arrancar, right?"

His eyes went wide. The situation had worsened. Mirro had acted because she knew far too much now. Between Ulquiorra and Clematis, Mirro knew the best course of action would be running after killing the weed. He knew he wasn't integral to Aizen's plans, that Ulquiorra couldn't justify going after the two instead of fighting the intruding soul reapers. Aracelis would attempt to return, and Ulquiorra would eventually pursue them, of course. But Mirro… Mirro would try to kill her. The monster made it clear he wouldn't leave Aracelis without taking her life. He didn't dare leave her body while in Las Noches, even if an opportunity arose. If he left Las Noches, he could perhaps avoid Ulquiorra murdering him in revenge. He would find a new host. He would hide. Mirro would get away with killing his Aracelis if he managed to escape now.

"It started saying a sword command before it sensed you," Aracelis said, pulling his attention back to her. "Subjugate, San-something." A tiny speck of good news. Mirro hadn't been able to take control of her while she was awake without using his resurrección. That information could prove useful when trying to remove the creature. If she could enter her resurrección while the parasite remained unable, it might give her a chance to heal enough damage that she would live- he would still require the woman to heal any injuries beyond Aracelis's capabilities. His original plan would work still if Mirro was incapacitated somehow while she used her sword- and learned its command somehow. The matter was if there was time. "I hope… I hope this wasn't for nothing. This information, it did help, right?"

"It did." He took a half step closer, his hand slipping off of her shoulder and under her arm. "We should return," he said, moving to carry her. She could barely walk, so sonido was out of the question. Once she was securely in his arms, he pressed his face into her hair, whispering, "I regret ignoring you."

"It's okay, Ulquiorra."

He sighed at her acceptance. "You are much too forgiving." She hadn't needed to tolerate him deliberately upsetting her because he was throwing a tantrum. How childishly he had been acting…

"Probably. Screaming at each other isn't going to help, though. And you at least admitted you were acting like a jerk." She paused, shifting so she spoke into his neck. "You care how I feel enough to admit you were wrong. You don't blame me for everything."

He could find no response to give. Her standards were far too low. She deserved someone who trusted her, that wouldn't automatically assume she had broken a promise. He adjusted his hold on her, finally using sonido to return to the entrance of the tower. Then, in silence, he carried her to their room, setting her on the bed so she didn't try to walk. He wondered how long the numbness would last; he couldn't tell if this was a result of nerve damage or simply an aftereffect of Mirro's ability.

As he shrugged off his destroyed clothes, Aracelis made an odd request. "Can you give me one of your shirts?" He gave her a look as he redressed himself in clean shirt. "I mean, I have this tear in mine." She grabbed the edge, accidently ripping it more. Her face went red. "And, well, as you can see, my, um…" If it ripped anymore, the bottom of her breast would be visible. A very Aracelis problem.

He reached back into the wardrobe, grabbing her one his shirts. He handed it to her, unsure if throwing it at her would cause her to fall over while catching it. "You may wear it until you find a proper replacement." Having her walk around in his clothes, he wouldn't really care if it wouldn't further impart the impression that he was incredibly fond of her in a manner everyone could readily see.

"Thank you."

She slipped her left arm into the sleeve easily enough. Of course, when it came to her right arm, she could barely lift it, her right hand twitching the entire time. She struggled for a while, glaring at her arm and sleeve the entire time. Watching her have such difficulties even dressing herself… He would have the woman look at her. Even if she didn't appear to be in pain, Aracelis couldn't function with half her body acting as dead weight. Currently, her injuries presented as nerve damage; it would take too long for her to heal on her own, especially if Mirro was interfering with her healing right now.

Once she finally conquered the sleeve and zipped the shirt a third of the way up, he walked over to her again, offering her his hand. She stared for a second, tilting her head. "We will see if the woman has eaten, as well as if she could reverse whatever damage instinct had caused."

"Okay. I-"

They both realized at the same time. Mentioning the woman had been enough to cause them to seek out her spiritual pressure. He never thought to use pesquisa before this, believing the woman had no means of escape- and his focus had been on Aracelis, as that was an ongoing theme.

"Where is she?" Aracelis asked, panicked. "I'm still having problems using pesquisa over a distance. Or is she dead? If she's dead, then Aizen will be really pissed off at you. I shouldn't have fallen asleep. I should have been here and-"

"She is alive." For the moment, at least. He located her near Ichigo _and Grimmjow._ What did that imbecile think he was doing?

"Loly and Menoly are in her room. Did they do something with her?"

Ulquiorra shoved his hands into his pockets as he stepped away from Aracelis. "I will go investigate." First, he would see if those pathetic Números had any insight into the situation. They likely played a role, knowing the two of them. "I will be back momentarily to discuss what action we will take." As things stood, he would have to go retrieve the woman. He could not risk leaving Aracelis alone again, nor could he bring her into a potential battle with the Sixth and Kurosaki.

Damn it all…

* * *

When Ulquiorra returned, Aracelis worriedly waited for an update. She hated not being able to use pesquisa over as great as distance as she was used to. Made her feel even more useless than she already was.

Her leg still felt like a lead weight, while she could barely lift her arm for more than a few seconds at a time. Soon after putting on Ulquiorra's shirt, her shoulder decided to stop with the numbness in exchange for itching. The sporadic twitching of her hand drove her truly insane. It's like her nerves were fried… Maybe that's why Ulquiorra was so quick to suggest having Orihime heal her. Now that wasn't possible...

"Grimmjow took her," Ulquiorra answered, walking towards her. He wore the same mixed expression as earlier. One of worry, irritation, and anger. And, of course, the cat would be the one doing something stupid; although, she didn't understand why he would want to take Orihime. "Do you trust the Third?"

"Huh?" She raised an eyebrow, the sudden question catching her off guard. "Yeah, I suppose. She's never done anything against me."

He blinked, thinking over the information. "I ask you to wait with the Third for the time being."

She didn't like the idea, scared of being away from him because instinct at least somewhat behaved with him around- it'd been deathly silent since earlier, adding to her nerves. But Ulquiorra didn't want to bring her into battle like this. Another damsel in distress is not what he needed. Eventually she nodded her head. Ulquiorra had more important things to deal with. Instinct wouldn't piss off someone stronger than Ulquiorra, right? And Harribel wouldn't ask questions; her trio of fools would, though.

"Aizen plans to leave for Karakura in a few hours." Her eyes went wide. Forget her petty issues. She thought this was just some intruders running amuck, that there was more time before the full-blown war broke out. "I will be placed in charge of Las Noches. Most likely, I will retrieve the woman and bring her to heal you before Harribel leaves. If something should interfere with this, find Clematis."

"Clematis? Seriously?" He'd lost it. Ulquiorra had officially lost his mind.

"Instinct wishes to kill her. If you go yourself, it will be less likely to demand control over you immediately." Maybe he was right, but still a strange plan indeed. "It will buy time," he added, turning around. "I doubt the weed will allow herself to be killed easily." A worst-case scenario, then. He paced to the other side of the bed, crouching as he grabbed something from under it. When he stood back up she sighed, rolling her eyes at herself.

"It was under the bed the entire time." What a clever place to hide her stupid sword. She never even considered it being hidden in the room with her- but instinct didn't either. Ulquiorra knew how unobservant she could be. He offered it to her once he stood in front of her again. "I… I don't…" She couldn't do anything with it. Instinct could, but that was a bad thing. The fact he didn't budge made her reluctantly take it from him. "Okay," she mumbled, awkwardly slipping it into her sash while still sitting. He had some reason… And she was just wasting time again. He needed to go get Orihime before something happened to her. He was being overly patient with her now, still feeling guilty for ignoring her.

"Are you able to walk?" She shook her head. For a second time, he reached out and helped her to her feet. From there he lifted her up, holding her close. Immediately he began walking out of the room with purpose. His actions surprised her. Right now, he didn't seem to care about his image. Carrying her around Las Noches. Letting her wear his shirt just because hers was torn. Asking Harribel and Orihime for help. He was entirely focused on her.

"Ulquiorra, I…" She rested her head on his shoulder in defeat. Telling him she loved him would distract him. He already appeared to be poorly processing that he had been so consumed with worry that he lashed out at her for scaring him. And he seemed incredibly stressed by the turn of events. Adding more emotions on top of that wouldn't help. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Ulquiorra. I'm glad I have you."

His footsteps hesitated. When he nodded his head slightly, she smiled. He must feel the same as her. Not just happy at having her around, but perhaps that he loved her, even if he didn't quite understand what he felt. At least she wanted to believe that. She wished she didn't worry him so much.

They quickly arrived at the entrance of Harribel's quarters. Thankfully, Aracelis could sense that her Fracción were on a balcony far above them. The three might have seen them arrive, which would be a pain to explain if they came to investigate, but they weren't there for the show of Ulquiorra asking for help. The range of her pesquisa still wasn't normal, though. She couldn't sense Orihime, and only a diluted trace of Grimmjow's; which meant he was wound up and releasing a lot of spiritual pressure for her dulled senses to pick up on.

Ulquiorra chose to continue carrying her into the building. The room was open, lacking decoration like the rest of Las Noches, but bright- Ulquiorra's tower was notoriously dark with its lack of _any_ lighting. Harribel watched quietly, albeit curiously, her arms crossed over her chest as she stood on the other side of the room. She waited at the bottom of stairway. She had come down to greet her odd pair of guests. Although, she didn't appear all to surprised that Ulquiorra was toting her around in his arms.

Ulquiorra carefully set her feet on the ground, hand on her shoulder until he felt she wouldn't fall over. His expression shifted in a flash as he turned to face Harribel.

"Would you be willing to watch Aracelis?" he asked stiffly, not used to _asking_ for things. No, he much preferred orders, but Harribel outranked him. Making personal requests to superiors certainly fell outside his comfort zone. "As you have likely noted, Grimmjow has made himself a nuisance. I do not wish for her to get involved."

Harribel shifted her gaze from Ulquiorra to Aracelis. The Third had been around Ulquiorra for at least a few years; Aracelis didn't doubt that Harribel saw this situation as odd. Cold, loner Ulquiorra wanted a personal favor involving another. "I will watch over her," she answered after short time.

"Do not allow her to leave." Ulquiorra glanced at her shoulder, eyes narrowing in warning. "The circumstances are peculiar. If she attempts to escape or attack, slash open her right shoulder and then restrain her. Should I not return before you leave with Lord Aizen, she may leave to fulfill a set of orders I've given her under the condition she has not attempted to escape beforehand. In that case, leave her restrained." When Harribel nodded in understanding, he returned his full attention to Aracelis. "Do not do anything reckless, Aracelis," he said softly, authoritative, formal tone fading away. "I will return with the woman momentarily." His eyes darted to Harribel for a fraction of a second before he did something shocking. He leaned forward, hand on the side of her face, his lips brushing against hers. Before she could process the fact he had kissed her in front of another of the Espada, he turned on his heel to make a speedy exit.

Aracelis watched as his coattails disappeared from sight. Even then, she stared forward, stunned. When Harribel said her name, her face got warm. He left her to explain- although she was happy, still, that he had given her a bit of affection before running off. A hug would have been better, though…

She whipped around when Harribel continued speaking. "I will be joining my Fracción. Do you wish to remain here?"

The relief she felt at not being questioned about their relationship. "I'll stay here, I guess." The three idiots wouldn't shut up if she went up there. Being carried and wearing his clothes, she wouldn't hear the end of it. Her mood was poor enough. Harribel must have seen that.

"Are you capable of releasing your spiritual pressure? It would aid me in tracking your location without having you in my sight."

"Oh…" Not everyone was used to looking for a void like Ulquiorra. She probably had other things to do than labor over dividing her attention to searching for an anomaly. Didn't want to inconvenience her after she so kindly accepted babysitting her. "I'll try." After a minute of intense concentration, she finally willed her body to let off a continuous, but still tiny, trace. "That's about all I can do," she said quietly, embarrassed at how much of a mess she was.

A familiar cero fired in the distance, just on the limits of her pesquisa.

"Damn cat attacked him," she growled. How dare Grimmjow try to pick a fight with Ulquiorra. She found herself quite surprised when the Sixth was still alive after Ulquiorra sent a cero back at him. In true Grimmjow fashion, he kept fighting even though there was no possible way in hell that he- "What happened!?" She panicked, trying to take off for the door. Her leg gave out in protest. Before her face met the ground, Harribel used sonido to race to catch her by the wrist, pulling her back to her feet. Harribel kept hold of her, seeing she would try to bolt again. "Where's Ulquiorra? I c-can't sense him anywhere!" He disappeared completely. Suddenly, meaning he hadn't just hidden his spiritual pressure- which made no sense to do in a battle to begin with. She needed to look, otherwise that meant… Aracelis tried to jerk away, but quickly gave up, feeling her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "W-where?"

"Aracelis," Harribel said calmly as she walked to stand in front of her. She felt like a child next to the blonde, remembering the woman was way taller than her. She kept sputtering incoherent words, afraid Ulquiorra had somehow been killed. Never did she expect for his presence to just disappear like he never existed. "It appears that Grimmjow used an item called a Caja de Negación on Ulquiorra."

"A what?" The cat used some dirty trick to get rid of Ulquiorra? She'd go out there right now and kill that bastard.

"Lord Aizen gave them to the Espada to punish our subordinates with. It traps whoever it's been used on in another dimension." Just as Aracelis opened her mouth to shout out whatever panicked exclamation her brain wanted, Harribel added, "With his power, Ulquiorra will break free in a few hours. Do not worry. He will be fine."

Now embarrassed by her hysterics, Aracelis returned her attention to the floor. She kept telling herself that at least only Harribel had seen her dramatics, but that didn't make her feel any better. Even feeling like an idiot didn't make her forget that Ulquiorra would be completely out of reach for a few hours, a slim chance he'd never come back- although she didn't think Harribel would feed her a sugar-coated lie.

"You appear injured. You should rest for the time being." Harribel took a step back, freeing her wrist, giving her plenty of time to say something. When she gained no response, Harribel nodded, not forcing Aracelis to say anything more.

Harribel walked back up the stairs, on the way to join her Fracción. Soon after, another battle began, this time between Grimmjow and Ichigo. She guessed that Grimmjow stole Orihime to heal the boy's wounds. Ulquiorra wouldn't have left the kid in working order. Grimmjow probably wanted some sort of rematch with him. It's how the cat operated; he had been displeased with Ulquiorra stopping his fights with Ichigo, so he had to get rid of Ulquiorra to have his oh-so-damn-important battle. He couldn't defeat Ulquiorra, so he used some stupid trick Aizen provided the Espada with just to have his equally stupid fight. Ego-tripping cat bastard.

Not knowing how long she would be here, or if she would have to go find Clematis, she decided to rest. She laboriously stumbled to the side of the room, sliding down the wall so she could sit with her back against it. She ended up with her head on her knees. Trying to sense the battle between Ichigo and Grimmjow didn't entertain her like such a thing usually would. It's not like Ichigo would win; struggling to sense an obvious outcome seemed a waste of effort.

She wanted to restart the day. If she knew this stupid war was about to kick off, she would have spent more time with Ulquiorra instead of running around like an idiot, upsetting him. Now he'd disappeared to a different plane of existence. If she had known all this crap was going to happen…

She would have told him.

* * *

 **A lot of episodes condensed into one chapter! The first section in episode 159, sub version with an addition. 162 is the next, combining bits from the sub and dub depending on what I liked more or fit how I've typed Ulquiorra's speech. Then to 165 when Grimmjow uses the magic box. Fav part of Bleach are these episodes, along with Ulquiorra and Ichigo's showdown. Never finished the show or manga, but damn have I watched this arc a dozen times.**

 **Anyway, hope I added enough that this didn't just come out as a summary of what we've all seen before. I'll be doing something similar for the next few chapters to keep with canon, but with Aracelis involved and from Ulquiorra's POV. Another little fact, Clematis had threatened Mirro to wake Aracelis up using her spiritual pressure in ch19; this is what would have happened had Gin not stepped in, and the battle went on.**

 **And, since the next chapters are important, if I feel like it's not good enough, I'll wait to edit it some more if time is tight. This one I liked, but a surprise day trip and homework didn't let me get it done and uploaded.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to Celestial-Dragon-Warrior, TishaLiz, GreyMooHuntress, Empryexl, ShadowKnight186, AnimeGurl54321, and VickyMaree for favoriting and/or following!**

 **Shelby- Aww, I'm always really happy to see that I'm doing his character justice while still developing him. And Mirro is definitely freaking right now. He knows he's gotta go before Clematis spoils the secret or Ulquiorra manages to figure out an alternate method that Mirro hasn't thought of. As for how I picture Mirro… it varies. Usually he's just a disembodied voice having a hissy fit, but I also have an idea of his original hollow form when he infected Aracelis, his Arrancar form, and all that jazz. When the time comes, I'll probably post a drawing on deviantart of him. And so begins all hell breaking loose with Ulquiorra and Ichigo's first spat. Thank you for reviewing!**

 **haipa-chan- Oh man, that's a funny image indeed- and she totally would have if she'd been out for fun and not trying to rush back. Ulquiorra didn't take her being out so well this time, though, that's for sure. I'm glad Ulquiorra referring to it as their bed had been cute, because I just wanted an opportunity to show that he's thinking as 'we' and 'ours' with her now. Everything is going quickly now. I love the first fight between Ichigo and Ulquiorra so much, like, he just destroys Ichigo and when he sees he's just the fourth… This is definitely where I decided Ulquiorra was a favorite. Aracelis tried to stay in the tower, although I originally planned for her to leave to go watch, because she would** _ **totally**_ **do that if Ulquiorra hadn't seemed so worried about her. Ulquiorra definitely can't enforce any rules while in the cube dimension… Anyway, thank you for reviewing, and I hope this chapter and the next few are exciting for you!**

 **thestormwriter123- I know, that slippery Clematis is always switching sides it seems. Happy it got you thinking what the little weed might do! Thank you for all the compliments, and continuing to read!**


	40. Chapter 40- Breaking Point

Aracelis rested her back against the cold stone, pulling at the shoulder of her borrowed shirt as her scar relentlessly itched. She winced as she lifted the cloth away from her skin, the fabric adhered to her by dried blood. The cuts re-opened, unfortunately. Instinct was being petty _again_ , not letting it close completely so it would further soak into her shirt to ruin it, but making sure to heal the deeper parts so it wasn't in pain. Bastard. As she fiddled with the sleeve, she focused on sensing any movement in the throne room.

Harribel and Barragan had already left for the garganta. Starrk appeared to be fetching the still on-the-loose Orihime. The rest, well they were dead or incapacitated. Or lazy, in the case of Yammy. More soul reapers had shown up. Four captains and presumably their lieutenants. Szayelaporro had been finished off. The Seventh was killed by another after going towards Rukia. Nnoitra'd been defeated by a captain after he attempted to put Grimmjow out of his misery. The Espada had lost half its members only to further divide their numbers between Karakura and Las Noches. She didn't know how strong Yammy actually was, but she figured the Tenth wouldn't be able to kill what killed the Fifth. Ulquiorra would have to fight all of these soul reapers on his own… It's not like she could help much either. Not in her current state. Aizen truly planned to leave them to die.

Over the last few hours, she'd regained feeling in her right side, at least. Her pesquisa was back in working order as well. But the root of the problem, instinct, hadn't magically disappeared. In the span of seconds, she could go back to being completely helpless against it. Then it would run off into the desert away from the danger.

When Harribel left, she decided to disobey Ulquiorra's order- she never could listen, after all. As the Third promised, the box couldn't contain his spiritual pressure. By the time Harribel and her Fracción went into the garganta, she could already sense faint traces of his spiritual pressure leaking out, specifically in the throne room. So instead of going to Clematis, she came here to wait for him. With his sense of responsibility, he would return before Aizen left.

Standing outside the throne room had another advantage. Instinct had screeched about not going to kill Clematis, threatened to take control to finish the weed instead of just stalling her while she went to cling to Ulquiorra. She had dug her nails into her shoulder. In a matter of hours, she'd destroyed the shirt she had been gifted, covering it in blood and holes, just to shut the bastard up. Then she sprinted to the entrance of the throne room with her fingers still in her shoulder. The only way she shut it up semi-permanently without gripping her arm was threatening that she would attack Aizen if it tried anything. Suicidal, yes, but very effective. Even if Aizen decided to humor them, Tousen wouldn't. The man had been ready to kill her over disrespecting the prick. Forget sending a bala or cero at him.

' _Bitch,'_ instinct muttered again for the hundredth time. _"I should have my hands around that abomination's neck instead of sitting here. Do you really think she won't run away after killing those wimps?'_ Still hated her plan, apparently.

As for momentarily distracting the weed so she couldn't flee…

 _She spotted her target soon after leaving Harribel's quarters. The horned-masked Arrancar walked with a bloated sense of superiority, his soldiers blindly following after him. The bull in all his false glory. She hadn't forgotten that the creature had held her in place as Clematis bombarded her with ceros. Despite feeling Rudbornn's former actions worthy of a grudge, she would use him. He had distanced himself from any allegiance he may have had for the weed and moth._

 _He stopped walking when she appeared before him. After a moment of silence, he stated, "What is it you want, girl? I do not have time to waste on something as pitiful as you. Return to your keeper." The bastard took a step forward, his soldiers filing behind him._

 _She had to resist the urge to pick a fight with the obstinate bull. "I have an order from my 'keeper,'" she said, her tone not hiding her irritation. She didn't need the insults. She needed to waste_ **Clematis's** _time, no hers. Saying it was an order from Ulquiorra caught Rudbornn's attention enough that he stopped wandering off. If he believed her, who knows. Obviously Ulquiorra had been gone for hours, yet he had been known to plan ahead. "Prevent Clematis from fleeing Las Noches while we are dealing with the intruders. Have a few of your soldiers round up some lesser ranked hollows. Use them to distract Clematis and any soul reapers you are not engaging yourself." The Exequias appeared to be on a clean-up mission, finishing off ally and enemy alike if they had failed in battle. Giving him permission to actually fight, she figured he'd take the offer. It would be the hollow thing to do._

 _Rudbornn took everything into consideration for a few moments. "As the Fourth commands." He returned to walking as three of his soldiers broke formation to go the opposite direction. "Know that if I have the opportunity to eliminate that infernal creature, I will."_

 _Aracelis shrugged indifferently. She doubted lesser hollows and a few soldiers would be more than an inconvenience to Clematis and friends. Perhaps Rudbornn wanted his chance at the intruders before he went after Clematis personally. Aizen's praise meant more to him that a personal vendetta._

 _The sudden volume increase in instinct's complaining showed she'd made a 'mistake' in choosing to ignore Clematis in favor of seeing Ulquiorra._

And now she waited for her chance. From the increasing amount of spiritual pressure able to leak through, she guessed it would be a matter of minutes before Ulquiorra finally broke free. By then, Starrk had breezed by with Orihime in hand- honestly, she barely saw the two, showing the level of skill it took to be the First. No sooner than dropping the poor human in front of Aizen, Starrk opened a garganta, taking his position for setting siege on Karakura.

While she could not hear specific words, she heard Aizen talking with Orihime. His patronizing tone and his overall superiority complex managed to show through in the short conversation. A large garganta then tore open in the room, making her remember that the stupid soul reapers had a way to open them- hollows couldn't escape them, not even in Hueco Mundo.

When she heard his voice next to her she about died of fright. But no. Aizen was still in the other room, giving his speech. They'd used some sort of soul reaper magic trick to broadcast the bastard all around Las Noches just so he could brag.

She honestly didn't care to listen to his gloating.

The only words she wanted to hear were, "Until then, I will leave Las Noches to you, Ulquiorra."

At that very moment, Ulquiorra escaped whatever dimension he had been thrown into. She pushed herself away from the wall. As Ulquiorra dutifully responded with, "Yes, Lord Aizen." she made way for the door, intending on entering before he set out to eliminate the intruders. Even knowing this was her last opportunity to talk with him before his duties to Aizen stole him away, she felt nervous. The fact she caught herself biting her lip while pulling at her sleeve proved it.

With the broadcasting kido dissipated and the garganta closed, Aracelis tentatively stepped into the room. She immediately had Ulquiorra's attention. He did not appear upset to see her, as she _had_ disobeyed his orders again. Instead, his eyes scanned over her quickly, lingering the longest on her bloodied shoulder. The situation had changed again. He must have not blame her for showing up here instead of following an order made under different circumstances. He waited patiently as she continued dragging her feet into the room. Standing in front of him, she stole a glace to the side. Orihime watched quietly on the other end of the room, not keen on interrupting the two to have attention back on her.

"Ulquiorra," Aracelis mumbled before giving into her impulses. She took a step closer to reach out, wrapping her arms around his torso as she pulled herself against him. He didn't fight her hug, surprisingly, considering Orihime was there. Didn't return it still, though. After a moment of having her face pressed to his neck, she turned her head to quietly speak with him. "I'm really worried about what's going to happen." As much as she liked to hold Ulquiorra as the strongest being in existence, she couldn't deny the current odds. Four captains, if they all worked together, even Ulquiorra might not survive. And _Ichigo_ … That kid, whatever the hell he was, because he certainly wasn't a damn human, he might become an issue. In one battle with Grimmjow, Ichigo had grown stronger; irrationally so. She had a sinking feeling. Nothing ever went right for them… "I'm scared of losing you."

"Don't worry for me," he said, making it clear he felt more concerned about her surviving. "This is a task that I must fulfill, and I intend to do so. While I take care of this, I still wish for you to find Clematis. Incapacitate her or convince her to help you." Things must be grave if he was seeking Clematis's help directly. She nodded her head, already having known he couldn't shirk his duties in Aizen's absence. Running away, they might be able to hide for a time, but Aizen would inevitably be back. The soul reapers defeating that prick, she didn't see it happening.

A gentle push on her left shoulder made her reluctantly drop her arms to her side. For a second. She caught the bottom of his sleeve before he could walk off. Then she grabbed his hand, wanting to maintain some sort of contact with him. He glanced to her hand, looking back at her face, green eyes transfixed on her. With her tangible nerves, of course he noticed something was up. His concentrated stare into her eyes didn't help, although this wasn't something she would say with her attention glued to the floor.

"I… I have something else I want to tell you." No turning back. She didn't know the next chance she would have, and it needed to be said. Especially if… If something happened to either one of them. "Ulquiorra," she said quietly, her words only for him, "I love you."

She watched his pupils turn to small slits, his body tensing before freezing entirely. She didn't doubt that he'd at least heard the word before and had a basic understanding of its meaning- he did have a penchant for reading, the topic a popular one. The severity of the word. The fact it was aimed towards him. An idea reliant in having a heart despite their hollow nature. He wouldn't give a response. Not now. Perhaps not even soon, if ever. She had accepted that the moment she decided to tell him. It was surely too much to comprehend in a span of a few seconds. Her pesquisa had already picked up on a pest rushing towards the area, giving him maybe a minute or two to stifle his reaction and put on his unfeeling persona. She hoped it didn't distract him too much…

"If only to humor my weird feelings," she half-heartedly joked, giving a strained smile, " _please_ just be careful, Ulquiorra. I don't want to lose you again." The only shift in his expression was his eyes softening away from pure shock. She leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek as if willing this not to be a parting like the rest. After giving his hand a final squeeze, she released him, stepping back with a pained smile screaming that she didn't want to leave.

When he remained quiet and unmoving, she turned around, giving a single wave over her shoulder as she forced her feet to carry her towards the door.

* * *

Ulquiorra watched as she walked away, raising his hand slightly as if yearning to reach out to her. It was already too late for that. Rationally, he should be pleased that she had left to complete her task. Instead he felt like a knot had developed in his stomach. And, even now, if he didn't concentrate on tensing his muscles, his hand would be shaking.

She… she loved him? It was incomprehensible why she would attach that word to anything, let alone him. Why? Why would she love him? Of all the creatures in existence, why would she ever choose him? He didn't understand. Certainly she had mislabeled her emotions, because _love_ wasn't something hollows could feel; he doubted whether humans could actually feel what they described as love. It couldn't be love. If only to keep his sanity, it couldn't be that.

He… he thought they shared similar feelings for one another. So even if she had managed to develop a heart… He couldn't love. Surely that was impossible for him. He rejected the idea of having a heart, even if he could somehow obtain one. It would only make him like that human. It would only cause him pain in the end. It would make him weak. He couldn't be weak, not now.

The idea alone terrified him.

The odds of her surviving were so incredibly low right now, his desperation reaching the point he hoped Clematis would pity Aracelis enough to help her because he couldn't. He would fail. That human's memories had shown an inescapable fate. He lost everything time and time again. Why would this be any different? He would lose Aracelis just like everyone else. She would be just like the human woman; dead because he failed to protect her. It had been a miracle she had returned to him once. Her fate was sealed now that he let her get so close to him.

The indifference, he wanted it back. He longed to feel nothing. Nothing had been blissful when compared to this hell he had subjected himself to in growing attached.

He couldn't accept her love. He had to be a hollow to function. Letting these emotions run wild would be the death of him- as it had been to the human in his revenge-blinded rage and inconsolable sorrow. In order to protect her, to have any hopes of saving her, he had to be rational. He couldn't regain a heart.

He finally forced himself to look away from the empty doorframe. He needed to rationalize the situation before he lamented over it further. His eyes fell on Orihime.

The woman, she had caused this. She must have given Aracelis the foolish idea she loved him. Her poor advice had given Aracelis the incorrect impression that she could love, that she loved him. There could be no other explanation. Aracelis could not love him; not when the possibility existed that he reciprocated such a thing. He would prove to this woman he was a heartless monster without redemption once and for all. She should be the one fearing the fate of the one's she held dear.

The pitying look on the woman's face, it incited him into wanting to redirect his emotions into anger with her. Slowly, he walked towards her, forcing his expression blank, hiding his hands in his pockets as he clenched and unclenched them in frustration as much as desperation. With the space between them closed to a more reasonable speaking distance, he entered into a staring contest with the woman. Even then, that detestable pitying look didn't falter. Seeing him speak with Aracelis, despite not hearing the exchange, it made her more sympathetic to him yet again. If she thought he could feel love for Aracelis, that he returned the affection she had likely described to the human in her search for an answer…

"Are you afraid? You're useless to Lord Aizen now. There is nothing to protect you anymore." Her lack of response made him nearly narrow his eyes at her. "It's over. You will die here, all alone, with no one to witness it. I'm asking," he said, his tone slipping slightly, "are you afraid?"

"I am not afraid," she responded, her voice resolute. He felt his eyes widen a fraction, not understanding why this human could stand before him even now, and still refuse to admit to feeling afraid. "Because everyone came to rescue me, my heart is with theirs."

"Ridiculous." Again, with the irrational heart nonsense. Despite wanting to think otherwise, the woman, she was smarter than she appeared. She knew what this conversation was really about even if he danced around the subject. "No matter what you think, the fate of you and your friends is already decided. Even if your friends came, it won't overturn the fact that all of you will die." They would die. In battle with the remnants of the Arrancar. With Aizen upon his return. The most dimwitted person should be able to understand that winning this battle with Aizen was impossible, that attempting such was the culmination of the foolishness of humans and soul reapers. All because of the absurdity of a heart. Saying her heart was with her friends, that because of this she didn't fear death, it was repulsive.

"Sharing your feelings with someone on the verge of death, it brings some sort of comfort to you humans. It is one of your instincts to help you escape from the fear and hopelessness of death. But, in reality, it is impossible to know another's emotions." Doubt always existed. Aracelis knew that well. No matter how hard he tried to understand her, he never would. Eventually, she would grow tired of waiting for him. No one had the patience to deal with him forever. Understanding her now, with her claims of love, surely it was impossible for someone like him. "Empathy is simply a meaningless human delusion." Though they shared commonalities, he could never hope to empathize with her entirely. He had no heart to be with hers. He would die alone. As would she, if things progressed any further…

Orihime glanced away, admitting, "You may be right. Perhaps it is impossible to feel exactly the same emotions." The determination returned as she looked back at him, challenging him to prove her wrong. "But, by cherishing each other, our hearts can be that much closer. People's hearts can grow so close, you can't tell the difference between them. That's what it means to 'be of one heart.'"

Now she spoke like two people could share a heart. Contradictory to her admitting it might be impossible to share exact emotions, she wanted him to believe they could still _share_ a singular heart? Ludicrous. Humans, soul reapers, and especially hollows, they died in isolation. In the silence, he took a final step forward to stand an arm's length away from the irritating woman. "What is a heart?" This inconsistent concept without a material existence… If it couldn't be logically proven, then, rationally, it didn't truly exist to begin with. He raised his hand, gesturing to her chest. "If I rip open your chest, will I see it inside?" As his fingers nearly touched her forehead, her eyes finally widened with fear. "If I split open your skull, would it be there?"

A surge in spiritual pressure and the shattering of stone forced his attention away from the woman, unable to finish making his point. He hadn't been paying attention, his need to rebut the girl's stubborn words distracting him long enough that Kurosaki had arrived, catching him slightly off guard. Of course, he knew the boy was conveniently on his way to him, it just annoyed him that he had let his focus drift from the three he decided to monitor to solely Orihime as his frustration with his emotions grew.

As he engaged in a wordless glaring contest with kid, he quickly located Aracelis, and then her target. Aracelis was halfway to the weed, using sonido but not to the extent that she would wear herself out before inevitably fighting Clematis and her two allies. The moth had used her resurrección to fight off a few of Rudbornn's soldiers- he wondered if the Exequias had been ordered to pursue Clematis or if he had decided to keep the plant from escaping on his own volition. The soldiers had brought with them hollow fodder to prolong the battle between them and the weed. Aracelis would reach Clematis after the Exequias were killed, but the weed would still be in the walls of Las Noches rather than fleeing into the desert, or, perhaps, through a garganta.

The woman muttered the boy's name as soon the shock of his sudden, theatric arrival had worn off. Hearing his name, Kurosaki smiled as if he had already saved her, as if she were fine. The boy commanded him to, "Step away from Orihime."

He did not appreciate the child ordering him to do anything. "I was about to," he admitted as he turned to fully face his new person to take his frustration out on. Hopefully Ichigo would offer more resistance than he had the last battle. The boy, once more, appeared to have gained power. An unordinary amount considering it had been but a few hours and one battle with the Sixth since their last meeting. "My duty is to protect Las Noches until Lord Aizen returns. I received no orders to take the woman's life. Until those orders come, I will let this woman live," he said more for Orihime's sake than the boy's. Despite how annoying he found her, he required her ability to heal Aracelis. Even then, he still felt as though he needed to make this woman understand how foolish her reliance on hearts as a source of comfort was. Hearts brought the opposite.

"You, however-" he looked back to the kid "-are a different matter. Killing you is synonymous with protecting Las Noches." Ulquiorra drew his sword, holding the blade in front of him. He would begin with the woman's friends whom she held so dear. He would show her that having a heart was the principal flaw of humans. Fleeting happiness and then overwhelming despair, he could think of no other word to describe it as other than a defect- a defect he didn't wish returned to him. "You shall die by my sword."

"What a surprise, I didn't think you would draw your sword first," Ichigo said, this bizarrely his goal. Drawing his sword meant certain death was to befall this human, yet it was what he wanted? Even honor had its limits before following decorum simply became stupidity. "On the way here, I was thinking that you wouldn't take me seriously enough to draw right away. Can I assume you consider me an equal opponent?" The cocky boy didn't seem to comprehend the situation in the slightest, especially after having been all but killed last time. His face didn't show the slightest fear of him either. These humans and not understanding the differences between their strengths…

"At the very least, I consider you an enemy worth destroying." The boy was no match for him. He had just become a pest that irked Ulquiorra for irrational reasons. Destroying him would be near therapeutic.

"That's good enough for me!"

Their swords connected, spiritual pressures colliding violently. In one shove, he forced Ichigo back, the tip of his zanpakuto slicing into the boy to draw the first blood of the battle. Despite this, the kid stubbornly charged forward again. Their blades crossed, the boy hopelessly trying to push against his sword to break through his defenses. At the moment, Ulquiorra may as well have been fighting regular, unremarkable soul reaper.

The fact he managed to dodge a lazy kick didn't impress him. Nor did when he barely followed him using sonido in midair after slicing through a pathetic, mask-less Getsuga. The boy couldn't even parry for long bouts, proved when in one lunge he stabbed his sword through Ichigo's shoulder. When the boy mindlessly stared at his cero charging, it angered him. If this human planned to fight him, then he shouldn't insult him in making such a poor effort and not fighting at his strongest. He could not crush a pacifist and expect to appear strong himself. Right now, with how the boy fought, Aracelis could defeat him in one hit, hindered by using her sword.

As the dust cleared from the room, he saw Ichigo still alive. And, mildly surprising, not horrendously disfigured by burns. "You withstood my cero without taking out that mask. You've gotten stronger." Now to manipulate him into attacking. It would be easy, already knowing what set the boy off last time. "Is it because you defeated Grimmjow? Or is it because of your friends, who continue to fight below this tower? Or is it all for this girl?" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the mention of Orihime. "That woman is already one of us. Even if you could rescue her from here, it won't change that fact."

"What?" the soul reapers muttered, recalling something that kept that look of poorly restrained anger on his face.

"You can't save her. It's pointless."

"That's not for you to decide!"

"You're right. It's for Lord Aizen to decide," Ulquiorra said, further taunting the boy. He had easily fallen for the bait. Perhaps now he would fight at full strength so he could properly pulverize him as the woman watched her last hope die.

With that, Ulquiorra continued to relentlessly attack, chasing after the boy, putting him on the defensive. Ichigo could only concentrate on dodging, perhaps trying to come up with a plan.

Then a hand suddenly gripped his wrist mid-stab. Ichigo held onto him, swinging his sword as he sliced upwards. The strike was enough to topple one of the nearby pillars. Ulquiorra allowed himself to be forced backward to skid to a stop a short distance away. As his shirt fell open, he felt blood seep out of a small cut on his chest. He ignored Ichigo's comments on the wound being superficial, instead touching the gash with bemusement, as rarely did he see his own blood. His plan to anger the kid appeared to have worked, although he hadn't expected him to make it through his hierro without that mask on- he retracted his thought that Aracelis could beat the boy, as that single slice would have proven fatal to her; if the boy managed to catch her, that is.

Ichigo's words pulled him away from staring at the red smudge staining his fingertips. "But I get the feeling that I'm able to read your movements better than I could before."

"Really?" Ulquiorra questioned dubiously, wondering what the kid had erroneously concluded. It was obvious the child couldn't control his own spiritual pressure. Believing that he could analyze others' would certainly be giving too much credit to him.

"The last time we fought, I couldn't read your movements at all. I had to make guesses about your attacks, defenses, and speed." As he presumed. "I couldn't read what was coming at me, or from where. I felt like I was fighting a machine or an emotionless statue." Funnily enough, Aracelis had called him such things before. Clearly the human's words didn't keep his attention. "So, why am I able to read your moves this time? Is it because I've become more hollow like?" The self-assured tone made Ulquiorra want to narrow his eyes. Kurosaki should not be taunting him when he was the stronger opponent; it would only end his existence sooner considering his mood. "Actually, I think it's because you've become more human."

Ulquiorra stabbed his sword into the ground, breaking the floor apart. "Did you say I've become more human?" He couldn't have become so human in such a short time that this unobservant, arrogant kid took notice. No, he had said this just to irritate him. It couldn't be so obvious… Unless Orihime had told Ichigo something when he had been trapped in that void dimension. If that woman had dared to share what she knew so little about… "I see, you must feel very proud of yourself at being able to keep up at this level. Let's see how long that will last you." He increased his spiritual pressure for the first time in this battle, Ichigo's eyes going wide at the show of power. He was done playing games with this kid. Either he would fight back with all his power, or be torn to pieces immediately.

Ichigo completely missed the movement, managing to dodge on instinct just in time to save himself from being cleaved in half. His counter attack sailed through the air as Ulquiorra used sonido again. The boy left his back completely exposed. One slash and it would all be over for him.

An orange barrier breaking beneath his sword made him turn back to the woman. Her interruption nearly snapped his final nerve. "What do you think you're doing, girl? Why would you even bother trying to save him now?"

"W-why? Because he's…"

"He is your friend, is he? And yet, you didn't protect him from my first attack. Why did you hesitate?" Her fumbling words and frightened expression, this is what he expected of her. Anything concerning her precious friends consumed her with worry. Such a _human_ sentiment, caring for someone else, worrying for their safety above your own… "You don't know? Then I'll tell you why. The truth is-"

"Shut up," Ichigo barked, Ulquiorra glancing at him instead of continuing to approach the woman. "You sure do love the sound of your own voice. Quit picking apart every little thing she does or says. Hesitated this, hesitated that… None of what you're saying matters anyways." Just as quickly, Ichigo had his attention back on Orihime, comforting her for her actions in saying, "Thanks for saving me, Orihime. But it's dangerous, so stand back."

"Ichigo… Just be careful."

As Orihime walked away, her words bothered Ulquiorra immensely. Aracelis had said the same thing to him. Aracelis and the woman, they were too similar at times. Perhaps that was why he wished for the woman to hate him. He couldn't bring himself to hate Aracelis, nor did he think he could bare if she actually decided she hated him… How disgustingly human they'd become…

"You know, it's funny," Ichigo began, thankfully drawing Ulquiorra's attention away from his thoughts. "I didn't peg you for much of a talker. But you're a regular chatterbox, aren't you?" He jumped up, energy swirling around his zanpakuto as he raised it into the air to prepare for a downward swing.

"A getsuga," Ulquiorra said, disappointed that the boy hadn't learned yet. "You still don't get it, do you? That won't have any effect on me."

Midjump, Ulquiorra noticed a change. Ichigo did not release the energy from his sword. Ulquiorra's sword met the attack, one hand not enough. After so long, the boy had managed to make him use both hands to grip his sword. Still, he deflected the attack without much effort.

At least the boy was becoming serious. Now to get him to use his mask… Then he could prove how useless struggling to defeat an impossibly stronger foe was. He would show Orihime what entrusting your heart to others earned you. He would prove he didn't need or have a heart. That this was all just human foolishness a hollow didn't need.

* * *

It had seemed as though the distractions would never end.

As soon as he thought he had the boy's attention, that he would finally fight him so he could crush their hope, _those_ two made an untimely appearance. Loly and Menoly immediately set to work harassing Orihime, harboring some strange hatred for her because she 'stole' Aizen from them. Idiots. He tried to use them to motivate Ichigo to defeat him first before rescuing the girl from the two. That utterly failed as the boy fretted endlessly over the woman. Ichigo tried numerous times to dart over to her, ignoring Ulquiorra to the extent he could have killed him a dozen times- he had time to count with how slow and sloppy Ichigo's attacks became.

Much to his irritation, Yammy then decided this was the opportune time to crawl out his pit. Of course the Tenth wanted to steal his opponent. Loly and Menoly barely offered a distraction when the brute miraculously decided to not steal Kurosaki right away. Threatening to kill the woman had almost made him step in, though, which would have made it more than obvious to Ichigo he wanted Orihime alive.

The Quincy boy's arrival had been perfect. Getting Yammy out of the room. Promising to protect the woman. All of the annoying bantering, the interruptions, they would presumably come to an end.

Before he focused on destroying the boy again, he checked on Aracelis's progress. In a matter of moments, she would be confronting Clematis. As expected, Rudbornn's soldiers and the other hollows had been defeated. Aracelis would be fine so long as Clematis didn't decide to turn on her completely, and Mirro didn't decide to take control. She had fought the moth enough times to understand to avoid the corrosive poisons; the creature's resurrección meant no threat now. The other one, the bird, had never been strong. The fact the group remained in the halls of Las Noches meant it could not use its single talent to create a sandstorm for the others to hide in. He felt confident that Aracelis, without interference from Mirro and Clematis, could defeat them easily. He didn't need to worry about her, he kept trying to convince himself. Obviously, he saw through that lie, as he periodically checked on her just confirm there hadn't been some minute change in her situation. In all likelihood, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from rushing to her if she got into trouble. His self-control had waned ever since she told him she…

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Ulquiorra." The shift in tone, the boy was serious about fighting him now that he thought Orihime would be safe. Ichigo's spiritual pressure increased as he reached for his face in preparation. "I believe this is what you wanted to see." The mask materialized as he brought down his arm. "My hollowfication!" Ulquiorra blocked as the masked Ichigo automatically rushed at him, a Getsuga wrapped around his blade.

It cracked. His sword, he could never remember a past opponent being able to break it. If he allowed the boy to keep shoving against it, his blade would have snapped apart. This kid, before he could have attacked with his mask on, and Ulquiorra could have blocked it with his bare hands while sustaining minimal damage. His growth curve… No wonder Aizen found him interesting. He could understand that now; whatever this human was, he was far from normal.

He jumped back as Ichigo swung his sword into the floor, the Getsuga releasing to rip into the stone and tear away at the wall. The room was no longer an adequate stage for this battle. If more of the supports fell, the roof would collapse and possibly crush the woman. He let himself fall outside the tower. As Ichigo followed him, he used a cero just as a test. The boy wasn't even phased by it. He merely held his sword in front of him and effortlessly blocked the energy. Las Noches itself was no longer suitable, then. While he could have prolonged the battle without it, he chose not to. He wanted to destroy this boy with the reality that even at his strongest, he would fail.

With the boy blindly chasing after him, he broke through the ceiling of Las Noches.

As he landed in the sand, Ichigo looked around, just now wondering where he had been lead. "Are we above Las Noches' canopy?" he dumbly observed. Surveying their surroundings instead of locating his enemy, how foolish.

"That's right," he answered, spiking his spiritual pressure once more. Everyone below would know where they had gone; Aracelis wouldn't worry that he had disappeared, although she would also perceive his anger. And the woman, she would beg that Quincy to bring her here soon enough. "Under Aizen's orders, two things are forbidden below the canopy of Las Noches. The first is the Gran Ray Cero, a cero that exists for the Espada alone." From the destruction below, it appeared that Grimmjow may have used one. That ability paled in comparison to his own cero in his release. If the boy had feared a Gran Ray Cero, then he would be terrified beyond words while facing him now. The differences between them couldn't be reconciled with that mask alone. "And the other is the sword release of an Espada ranked Fourth and above," he added, giving warning to what was about to happen. Even if he saw it coming, Ichigo could never hope to defeat him. "Both are so powerful that they would threaten to destroy Las Noches."

This truly was his domain: endless night lit by a sliver of moonlight, stark in its contrast, empty in its vastness. Fighting here, it was more befitting of him and his form than the fake sunlight below. This is where the human would meet his end, where their shared heart would perish.

"Enclose, Murciélago."

* * *

 **And that was episode 266 to 269! Once again, the dialogue came from those episodes, dub and sub depending on which I liked- hope it wasn't too summary-y. I hope Ulquiorra's 'frantic' near break-down makes sense. He already seemed to take this battle with Ichigo personally, so I thought perhaps him projecting some of his emotions onto Orihime and Ichigo would make sense. Given that Aracelis just told him she loved him, and that he thought their feelings were the same, he is a bit freaked out. No matter how much he denied it, he hasn't completely distanced himself from his human memories- it seemed to happen recently with how Clematis's ability works. Disproving hearts, disproving the possibility he has a heart, he has made it a goal now.**

 **Thank you all for reading!**

 **Thank you to skaterrockgirl and ugeniaradford for following and favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- Poor Ulquiorra is really stressed and worried… And at such a critical time in canon. I cheated and gave them a few moments before Ichigo came crashing in, though, because her telling him she loves him before going into this battle is much worse :) Keep wringing your hands nervously, because we all know this isn't going to end nicely for Ulquiorra and Aracelis. I'm glad him kissing her in front of someone worked out; Harribel and Starrk, to me, both of them seem trustworthy to me, actually. It's just Aracelis wouldn't have been comfortable hanging around someone new, so Harribel got the job. Anyway, thank you for reviewing, and boy am I excited for your reaction for next chapter as things fall apart more! We all know Mirro isn't going to behave while Ulquiorra busy!**

 **Shelby- I'm glad the kiss was cute, and that him being upset about hurting her feelings was sweet. He's just trying so hard to understand; it's why he's not having a good time this chapter because he totally sees what's going on and doesn't want to admit it. And I'm happy the scene last chapter turned out well! He just seems to be really annoyed by Orihime's human nonsense, and it goes so well with what I've been doing here. Mirro is definitely losing his mind. I probably could have explained it better last chapter, but the zanpakuto release Mirro said was his own, which is separate from Aracelis's. Still not a good thing for her to know, because she figured out he's an Arrancar too, and will know he's taking over when he says the first word. He's not done yet, though, that's for sure. Thank you for reviewing and I hope this and the next chapters entertain!**


	41. Chapter 41- The Meaning of Despair

"I told you it's useless!"

He used Luna del Luz to strike the insolent human across the face, sending the boy through the other wall, the tower shattering in a cataclysmic din as the top crashed down onto the lower section. Ulquiorra mentally cursed, recognizing he had reached the point of shouting because this human still refused to see reason. Even after demonstrating the great distance in their powers, Ichigo kept fighting. After witnessing that he had no possible way to win, he refused to accept he had been bested. His resurrección. Cero Oscuras. No matter how terrified the boy appeared, he didn't give in.

The sheer madness of fighting the inevitable sent Ulquiorra further over the edge.

He followed an unconscious Ichigo through the air. The boy's hand clutched his sword tightly, desperately. Even after Ulquiorra hit him in the back again, or as he sent him repeatedly smashing into the side of a tower, he held onto his damn sword like he still held hope. When Ulquiorra caught him again, he grabbed him by the tattered remains of his shirt. He lifted the battered boy off of his knees. Ichigo didn't fight back, no doubt in immense pain after being tossed about like a ragdoll. Even if the rest of his body was limp and unresponsive, his hand gripped the hilt of his black blade in defiance.

Ulquiorra fought narrowing his eyes. Controlling his expression had somehow become an impossible task throughout this one-sided battle. This was meant to be the rational solution, the decision that would mean he rejected a heart and all of its useless emotions as proof of his superiority over this human, yet…

"Why won't you let go of your sword?" This stubborn refusal to admit defeat, it irritated him beyond reason. He hated it, and hate… Hate was the strong emotion that began this mistake. Hate required a heart. Even knowing that, he could only describe his loathing for this boy who stood in the face of death, but thought he could somehow overcome his fate, as hate. He hated this human as much as he despised his own helplessness. "You've seen how great the difference in our power is, but you still think you can defeat me?" He nearly wanted to beg that the boy's pride be the reason he fought such a hopeless battle. If this nonsense was all to protect his friends, to protect Orihime, to protect his heart…

"Difference… in power?" The boy spoke between sharp, labored breaths.

Feigning ignorance in not being able to perceive such a vast difference, it added to his sense of hate. Pretending he couldn't understand that he would die, that all of his friends would die soon thereafter, it angered Ulquiorra. For a human to think he could protect even one woman when an infinitely stronger hollow couldn't…

"That doesn't matter at all" Ichigo continued, clinging to consciousness as much as he did his sword. "You… think I'd give up… just because you're more powerful than me?" Ulquiorra gave in, frowning briefly at the boy admitting he knew the odds were against him. "I knew you were powerful… from the very start. At this point, nothing changes. No matter how many times I see how powerful you are… I refuse to give up! I… will… defeat you!" The way the boy struggled to make it through saying his name, it felt like he was mocking him. When Ulquiorra caught his eyes widening at the declaration, it made this all the worse.

"Nonsense," he said flatly, tossing Ichigo to the side, done with this futile resistance. "Ichigo Kurosaki, those are the words of someone who does not know true despair." There would always be some insurmountable force preventing happiness. No matter how powerful or determined one was, despair and loss became inevitable where a heart existed. A heart always turned to a chasm of suffering in the end. He couldn't accept that these creatures willingly sought such a burden, deeming such a horrific ideal as love miraculous instead of perilous. Nothing in his entire existence showed love and tragedy were separate. Loving her would be their end. Loving her would ultimately mean despair.

"Since you don't understand, I will teach you." He would make this boy understand that fighting fate, an invulnerable god in its own right, was incomprehensibly foolish. He would prove a heart was a vulnerability. What better way to teach this lesson than using a form created from the numbing void of depression and hopelessness? "This is what true despair is like."

As his spiritual pressure became tangible wisps of shadowed green flooding the air in an ocean of energy, and as his form began to shift to something wholly demonic in nature, Ichigo stared on in blatant, wide-eyed fear. And, below, the woman had the Quincy bringing her to the canopy. It was all perfect. He would turn this boy to dust to show that woman that there remained no redemption for him. Nothing could change the past. Nothing could change the future. Nothing could change that his existence was marred with isolation and death. Above all, he would prove that he couldn't change no matter how much he longed to.

He would show that having a heart was an impossible change for something like him to accomplish.

* * *

Aracelis arrived as the last of the Exequias fell to the floor, its body melting into a gruesome puddle of putrid ooze. They all turned their attention to her as she skidded to a stop in the narrow passageway crowded by dissidents. Ellzea's bulky resurrección took up most of the space, her enraged shrieking drowning out whatever greeting Clematis chirped as she peeked around the moth.

Thankfully, only the moth had used her release. Geero, in such a confined space, had been prevented from his usual duty of kicking up an obscuring sandstorm or knocking down obstacles as he flailed- although, given he had lost an arm, his ability to be a nuisance had also been reduced. Clematis, despite that her resurrección granted her a boost in regeneration and the ability to fire multiple ceros, the mass of vines she became would have slowed their escape. She could only be a threat in close-combat now.

Aracelis wanted this over quickly.

Ulquiorra, she had no idea what was going on with him, other than he must have taken her admitting she loved him horribly. She knew it'd been a stupid idea; she should have stayed quiet because if he got hurt while being preoccupied with her words... Even with all of the distractions like Loly, Menoly, and Yammy interrupting their battle, she had hoped Ichigo would have been defeated by now, too. Instead, Ulquiorra took the battle above the dome. Using his resurrección to beat Ichigo senseless, that should have been the end to her concern, yet just moments ago, he had done something wholly unnecessary. The cold ocean of spiritual pressure saturating the whole of Las Noches… He had used Segunda Etapa. She didn't understand why. The situation hadn't called for it, their strength night and day. Ulquiorra had to be incredibly pissed off. He did tend to react to emotions either by distancing himself or lashing out… She hoped it had been something the human had done or said, that her feelings hadn't sent him on a rampage as a sign of rejection towards her feelings. Or, worse, that she had sent him over the edge as he tried to reject such a human sentiment. Even if she was completely wrong to think so, she felt that she had snapped the delicate string of denial and repression that held him together. Right now, she felt he needed her more than anything else.

"I'll kill you!" Ellzea screeched as she whipped her wings to the side, toxic dust scattering into the air. Her dramatic run forward was ruined by Geero hacking away after breathing in the poison and Clematis giggling from behind her sleeve as she covered her face.

"I don't have time for you." She formed a fist at her side, the moth's pathetic sonido appearing as slow motion. In one movement, a bala smashed into one of Ellzea's wings. She expected it to end with the wing disintegrating. Instead, she stared in shock as the bala's shockwave slammed the moth into the ground, stone tile shattering as a crater formed around her. The blue light continued down the corridor, not dissipating until the bala collided with a distant wall in a horrendous boom that threatened to collapse the underground hall entirely.

' _We're not wasting time playing around,'_ instinct growled, explaining the sudden power increase. This was apparently what it felt like to be at full power, unrestricted by the greedy bastard. She wanted it gone all the more now. Without it controlling her body, she wouldn't be such a useless burden to Ulquiorra. She could actually help him fight the soul reapers rather than hiding in fear, beseeching Clematis for help. _'Quit you're stupid whining! Go kill Clematis or I will!'_

As Ellzea pushed herself off the ground, mouth about to drop open to form a cero, giggles interrupted. "Now, now, Ellzea. You know that will cause the hall to collapse on top of us. You have such terrible aim, after all. And what if I wanted to have a chat with my dear Aracelis?" Clematis pouted, looking to the floor as she feigned sadness. "We didn't quite get to finish our talk earlier, a certain someone interfering." Then the laughter came as she added, "But I guess the intruders didn't help matters either. Right, Aracelis? You ended up behind one, yes?"

"Shut up," Ellzea snapped before Aracelis had the chance. "You got five minutes to babble," she growled as she pushed past Clematis, the weed having to duck out of the way of her wing or risk getting smacked in the face with toxic scales. "I'm leaving you behind if you take longer than that."

"Aww, but where would you go? I know such great places to hide after all…" So, that was her pitch; the moth didn't seem eager to take Clematis with, but the weed's knowledge could offer a hiding place to take refuge in- she doubted the idiots could actually escape Aizen's rule for long, especially if he came back and wanted traitors hunted down. When Clematis found herself ignored by her ally, she smiled brightly at Aracelis, skipping forward. It was enough to make Aracelis tense as she considered stepping back a few steps to keep her distance. Damn creature's height intimidated her as much as her stupid ability did…

' _Attack her! We're not here to listen to her spew nonsense again!'_ She agreed, but at the same time she felt nervous. If she ended up injured, or, as she found out hours ago, if instinct forcibly took control, Clematis would be killed. Ulquiorra wanted the weed alive for a reason, and that reason likely involved helping her with instinct. Starting a battle and risking losing whatever advantage Clematis offered, she'd prefer not to.

' _Your preferences are what always nearly get us killed, idiot!'_

"Hmm?" Clematis leaned forward, tilting her head. "Why the frowny silence? Having a mental spat, are you?"

"Just be quiet," she mumbled to both parties annoying her. Too bad the weed and instinct adored the sound of their own voices. She'd really like to avoid a battle- how against her nature that was. The last time she'd tried that, it didn't go so well, either… "I'm not letting you escape Las Noches." Reasoning with Clematis would be like ordering a rock to run, though. Force would probably be necessary unless the weed humored her.

"Me specifically!? I'm so honored," Clematis gushed. "How great a threat I must be for Ulquiorra to send his most prized possession after me!"

Screw civil conversation. Her hand clenched into a fist ready to be swung at the weed's smug face. If they were standing closer, it would have already been slamming into her cheek in hopes of breaking her jaw. She'd learned her lesson, however, about getting near Clematis. The plant could very well be baiting her into a trap again. A sword in the side, she didn't need that right now on top of all her other issues.

"But you also don't appear to be here to kill me. I wonder why that is..." Clematis held her sleeve to her face as she pretended to contemplate an answer to her own question. "Has someone finally given up and recognized how helpless they are?"

"Shut-"

The hall fell eerily silent. Spiritual pressure from above the dome rushed downward to fill the entirety of Las Noches in a blood-chilling atmosphere reeking of disaster. Aracelis didn't think anything could scare her more than standing before Segunda Etapa, or Aizen, but right now, even at such a great distance… Her body fought shaking as her actual instincts screamed in fear, begging her to get as far away from this energy as possible. That… That _thing_ , it couldn't be the kid. He'd been _dead_ a moment ago, Ulquiorra's cero ending the human's life, but the traces, no matter how distorted and corrupted, certainly belonged to Ichigo. Despite reasoning that out, the feeling of absolute dread from the energy alone, it was far from human or hollow. If there was one thing in this world her damned soul wanted to call evil, it was the creature threatening her everything.

' _What… What the hell is going on up there?'_ instinct muttered, voice dropping to a lower tone that betrayed its nature as someone else. It simply didn't care right now, standing in this malicious pressure with reverent fear. _'That thing, I… I've never… Not even that bastard's spiritual pressure in his second release is…'_ She noticed it try to shift her energy absorption to her shoulder alone; she quickly righted that, knowing that using this… this creepy spiritual pressure would help her in a pinch.

She felt Ulquiorra use another cero- a powerful variant that she hadn't felt until he entered his resurrección with a determination to destroy an opponent. Sensing it fizzle away under the force of a second blast, her growing desperation blended with fear. Even if it was only one failed attack… That feeling of foreboding she had earlier hung over her like a storm cloud blackening with every passing second.

Clematis's nervous laughter cut through the silence, returning their attention to each other rather than the beast above Las Noches. "He might have met a challenger that can kill him. A human, or former human, no less. I wonder how jealous he is? It took him so long to claw his way to having power, yet this boy outranks him in a matter of moments."

"Bastard's definitely dead," Ellzea added, grinning. "There's no way in hell he's beating that thing."

Aracelis took a half-step back, inciting the wrath of instinct with the slight movement. _"You are not going to go up there and get us killed! We can't fight_ _ **that**_ _!'_

She had to, though. Ulquiorra, he wouldn't just give up. The great lengths he went to in showing the human his resurrección, and then Segunda Etapa, it was exactly what he did to threaten instinct. For whatever reason, this battle with the human had become a very personal matter to him. Judging Clematis's cryptic commentary, and his hollow pride in general, being stronger than others had always been important to him; more so than she initially believed, it appeared. To have any hope of pulling him away from this battle, she would have to go beg him. And, if the human wasn't forgiving, perhaps she could convince him to run away with her instead of dying in the name of pride or forced loyalty. She'd inevitably do anything if it meant his survival, even if that meant joining in on an unwinnable fight with that _thing_ in vain hopes of helping him.

' _That's exactly why I'm not going to let you take_ _ **us**_ _up there,'_ he said in a huff, losing the mimicry of her voice. The screaming in her head, it added to the twinge of pain instinct caused to punish her self-sacrificing thoughts. _'We're going to kill Clematis! Then, depending on if that bastard's dead or not, we're leaving Las Noches. You're walking a thin line, girl, so shut up and do what I want. I'm done playing this game with you.'_

"Idiot, we're leaving!" Ellzea's impatient voice drew Aracelis and instinct's attention away from squabbling. The moth and bird had already paced down the hallway, the red-eyed Ellzea glaring at Clematis. "I'm serious," she hissed through her teeth, holding up a clawed hand seeping out venom for emphasis. It was surprising she didn't foam at the mouth with how rabid she acted.

"Wha? But I haven't had any fun yet, dear leader of mine!" The mocking tone sent the pink-haired moth into a screeching tantrum before she turned around to stalk down the hall. After backhanding the unfortunate Geero who stood in her path, of course. Clematis looked away from Aracelis, her back completely open as she lamented having to leave yet didn't actually leave.

' _Slice her apart! Attack!'_

Aracelis refused, taking another step back to go the opposite direction of Clematis. Above, the battle remained in favor of the monstrous creature. The palace shook as a giant storm of energy was released; another of Ulquiorra's attacks he'd spared her from. It had missed. If that was a-

' _Damn it!'_ Her head felt split, vision flickering with each wave of pain. _'Shut up about him! Let him fucking die!'_

"N-no," Aracelis forced out through gritted teeth, a hand held to her head in a pathetic attempt to stop the agony. Her right arm began to numb as she swayed, about to fall onto the floor with the sudden vertigo.

"What do we have here?" Clematis shouted, flailing her arms excitedly as she spun around, sleeves billowing wildly. "I am oh-so-glad you've joined us! I had something very important to tell you, mister." A mad grin cut across her face.

' _Kill her!'_ Instinct screamed as he fought to take full control of her arm to raise it.

"Purge, Libélula."

The two words made instinct freeze his efforts. Aracelis's eyes slowly widened as she realized the meaning behind the random phrase.

"Isn't that right, Mirro?" Clematis smiled happily as instinct, or rather _Mirro,_ listened in stunned horror, it too late to keep the secret from Aracelis. "She could never learn it without your consent, since you had Aizen use his sword to hypnotize her into forgetting she had ever known it. Mirro didn't want you to use it, you see," she continued explaining since Mirro had accidently given her the opportunity in his fearful stupor. "He's a parasitic hollow that feeds off of the spiritual pressure you absorb. Can't have you using up his precious food to have fun flitting about in your release form after all. You're stronger than him, you know. That scares him. Losing you now, after centuries of being able to feed from safety, that is his worst fear second to being killed."

"And he's an Arran-" Aracelis flinched, pinching her eyes closed as Mirro put his full effort into taking over. He was on damage control now.

"Yes! How smart you are! Aizen pulled you two apart just so Mirro could become an Arrancar too. He couldn't tear his mask off like you did while hiding in you. After that, Mirro re-entered you, and the Hogyoku healed all the damage done when he had been removed. You'd be paralyzed if it hadn't. Or dead. He's all wrapped up in your nervous system." Clematis shrugged as she seemingly lost interest in talking to someone on the verge of passing out. "Anyway, Mirro's always been terrified of Ulquiorra, of his influence on you and your growing emotional attachment to him, but now that he's trying to remove Mirro from you, he'd do anything to keep you. Ulquiorra's idea will work… if he survives that is. You can tell him that if he makes it, I suppose. Orihime might not be so willing to help anymore, either." She began walking away just as Aracelis fell to her knees. "I only wish I could have had him begging me to help you… Breaking the shattered remains of his heart would have been fun, too, though I'd have to kill you to that. You three really did keep me entertained, so thank you, but this is sadly the end."

Aracelis desperately tried to reach for her sword with her left hand, her right side already lost to Mirro. She had tears welling in her eyes. "I need to go help him," she quietly pleaded. Ulquiorra had stopped moving. He'd been attacked. He was severely injured, internally since his regeneration didn't save him, and possibly unconscious since he didn't move. She needed to go help him _now._ But, even with her zanpakuto's name and command, she couldn't physically grab the hilt at her side. With Mirro using her right hand to snap her wrist and restrain her, she couldn't even brush her fingertips to the only hope she had. "He's going to die! Please just…" She'd bargain with Mirro if that's what it took. The situation was that grave.

" _Shut up!"_ Mirro screamed, her vision blacking out in time with his booming voice. _"I want him to die! That bastard ruined everything I had! Now let me have control, damn it! Before Clematis gets away! I swear, I'll have her head for telling you all of this!"_ His grip tightened, broken bone sawing through skin, warm blood running down her useless hand to stain the white stone.

"He… he's going… I can't…" She couldn't articulate her fears with her body quivering from held-back sobs and misery. Before he could lose all patience and resort to using his resurrección like he had tried to do earlier, she scrambled to think of anything else that might save her, that might save Ulquiorra. In an empty hall with an enemy, she couldn't find an answer. She felt completely alone as tears ran down her face. The epitome of uselessness, helplessly crying like a child in the dark, and a burden to the end, all while he faced death. This was her meaning of despair. This was her fate. But like hell she would give up without trying the most convoluted thing she could. "Cl-Clematis," she begged, voice breaking, "P-please help me!"

The cold edge of a blade burying itself in her shoulder made a scream slip out. As Aracelis took quick, shaking breathes, she lifted her head. Clematis wore a scowl as her vines retreated with her sword back under her sleeve. Aracelis immediately grabbed her right shoulder, feeling like her entire arm might fall off with how deeply Clematis had sliced. The garbled words of Mirro were lost in the intense pain of their injury. Even if it had silenced him and given her enough control to haphazardly stumble to her feet, the wound made her light-headed. The fact her shoulder and broken wrist didn't immediately regenerate prolonged the agony.

"Geez, you can't cry like that, Aracelis! I haven't any self-control," Clematis whined. Just as quickly her face shifted to seriousness. "Mirro will be unconscious long enough for you to get outside if you hold back your regenerative abilities. You'll need to use your resurrección after that. Its release will knock Mirro out again briefly should he have awoken by then. Your shoulder will heal when you use your sword release, so he'll forcibly retake control rather quickly when he comes to." She gave a dramatic sigh, turning on her heel once more. "Honestly, tricking me into helping you… I need to learn to say no to pretty girls' requests."

Instead of spending a second more listening to the weed think aloud, Aracelis tore off the sleeve of her shirt, somewhat sad to see it go but not about to mourn clothing when obviously much more was at risk. Clumsily she managed to tie it around her shoulder to slow the bleeding. Then she used sonido, darting the way she came to assuredly reach an entrance.

Even if she pushed her injured limits, she felt terrified at how quick yet slow time passed. The monster hadn't dealt the finishing blow, but his spiritual pressure radiated right on top of Ulquiorra's quickly fading presence. As the structures around her blurred to blocks of color and the wind silenced all other sound, her legs felt heavy, her body a weight that could never move fast enough to meet the speed her panic-stricken head deemed necessary. The cero she used to tear through the top of the dome took a lifetime to charge, another eternity to fire. The pain easing as her shoulder healed against her will felt instantaneous.

As she reached the canopy of Las Noches, a red light burned the air with heart-stopping cruelty. Her chest felt empty, and, with the dust cloud yet to settle, she found herself frozen in place and time. The tears streaking down her face was the only warmth she felt. Her body quaked as she desperately searched out any trace of him.

The silhouette on the edge of a crater made her lip quiver, a scream caught in the back of her throat. An unrecognizable monster held Ulquiorra by his remaining wing, and his… He… The entirety of his lower body was gone, leaving a battered torso, one arm, and one wing. Most other hollows would already be dead. Limp and unconscious and clinging to life by a thread, she needed to do something, her brain crawling slowly to find a solution. Even if he regained consciousness and she got him to leave, the damage, all of the organs, he might… he might not…

The monster carelessly threw Ulquiorra's body to the side like he was a piece of trash. If for a moment she thought it might spare him, that hope was lost as the monster walked towards him, sword then poised to slash open his neck. Had a human clothed in white not taken the wrist of what had presumably become of Ichigo to stop him, she knew. She knew she would have witnessed Ulquiorra's demise.

This was her only chance. As the human boy tried to talk sense to the horned creature presiding over Ulquiorra's life, she took a step forward, reaching for her sword.

' _What the hell are you doing!'_

Hearing his voice brought her a sense of impending doom. Immediately he had her right side under his control. No matter how much she wished to grab her sword, her left hand hung uselessly, bone never having healed as Mirro siphoned all energy to healing himself.

The hollowfied Ichigo imbedded his blade into the stomach of his friend. In one more hit, the beast would return focus to Ulquiorra.

' _Stop!'_ Mirro screamed as she relinquished control over her right side, no longer resisting him, instead doing something far more dangerous. She increased her spiritual pressure. Distracting that thing long enough for Ulquiorra to wake up and get away, she'd gladly draw its mindless rage to her. _'You stupid bitch!'_

When Mirro divided his effort to control her body and spiritual pressure, she focused on retaking her right arm long enough to grab her sword. Her resurrección would call Ichigo to her more effectively than spiking her spiritual pressure would. The monster had paused when Orihime screamed. She still had a precious few seconds.

' _I said stop!'_

Her spiritual pressure increased drastically for a flickering moment. Then her sword gouged her left shoulder open as she narrowly avoided it sinking into her neck instead. Immediately, Mirro pulled the blade out, throwing it a distance away so that she could never hope to reach it in her current state. As her energy decreased to conceal their presence once more, she fell to the ground, unable to move her right arm and leg as Mirro began to steal away all control from her weakened body. She clawed at the sand, shattered wrist searing in agony as she tried to drag herself forward. She bled uncontrollably, vision dancing with spots each time she attempted to move. The wound refused to close. Blood loss clouded her brain in confusion. Just like so long ago she mouthed his name over and over, desperately trying to reach him as her body failed her. Mirro wanted her unconscious or dead; she could no longer tell which.

' _Just pass out,'_ he growled as Ichigo charged another cero. He would kill the other boy before he returned to targeting Ulquiorra. If she could- _'There's nothing you can do to help him! You're always going to be helpless and incapable! Give up, damn it!'_

"Never," she said soundlessly, raising her broken hand, a cero fizzling out as her broken body didn't have the strength. Her fingers twitched as she grasped the empty air instead, wanting nothing more than to reach out to him. She wanted to hold his hand, or rest her hand on his face, or lie down beside him. She wanted face the end with him. Even with him in her sights, she felt completely alone at such a distance. Cold and in pain, wishing for his comfort. She didn't want him to die feeling the same. If this was to be their fate, then, in the very least, she didn't want him to be alone. Not again.

' _I'll make you watch him die!'_

* * *

 **This and the next chapter will be quite short to conclude canon! Then a few things and we're back to the first chapter! Still some things to be solved, obviously. And Aracelis's sword command is literally just Spanish for dragonfly; I think their cool, and the symbolism of dragonflies works fairly well with Aracelis's character, even. Mirro's got enough problems controlling her, being she's all hyped up on Ulquiorra's and Ichigo's spiritual pressure, that he had to be quite dramatic in trying to slice her throat to get her to pass out really quickly. Also, I've always loved the moment where Ulquiorra breaks his calm to shout at Ichigo for being stubborn, then enters his second release just to show Ichigo what despair is like.**

 **Thank you for reading everyone!**

 **Thank you to AnnieLux, xlovelytinx, BreanaGRodriguez, and Yemarcher for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan- Yes, my favorite part too! At this point, I don't even know how many times I re-watched it while typing these chapters… And it's what started this story. But, yeah, she finally told him! just a little too late type-a deal. I figured it would get like a summary, which is why I didn't want to do the **_**entire**_ **fight with Ichigo, and, well, writing a fight scene wouldn't compare to seeing it in anime or manga. So I chose a few bits to give some more of his thoughts, and then had Aracelis talking with Clematis, weedy ruining a lot of Mirro's secrets in one go! Too bad Ulquiorra won't get to know that he can help her now. I happy that you agree that Ulquiorra seemed to take that battle (and hearts) weirdly personal compared to every other time he was on screen (like, he was obviously annoyed with Orihime before she slapped him, but didn't do more than threaten her after), and that what I wrote showed him projecting his emotions and insecurities on Ichigo and Orihime worked to explain his 'over-the-top-for-him reactions. To the finale of this battle, and then out of Las Noches to chapter 1! Thanks for reviewing again, I appreciate it a lot!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- Yep, she certainly chose one heck of a time to tell him! He's all sorts of confused and overwhelmed that ignoring his feelings is no longer working for him. Not that he's about to deal with them directly. I'm glad the whole projecting everything on Orihime and Ichigo is going well! He was just so worked up during this battle while at every other point he was detached. He definitely is trying to keep his demeanor, but he knows he's losing it. And forget it now that Aracelis has shown up on the battlefield. Anyway, I hope you continue to enjoy the story, and thank you for reviewing!**


	42. Chapter 42- To Ashes

The red glow faded to blackness as his eyes fell closed, pain forcing him to the edge of consciousness. He wondered why he was still alive, almost bitter that he had survived the cero only to have most of his body blown away. Even if Segunda Etapa numbed the pain, having his torso torn open and his organs ripped apart or missing, the searing agony made him wish he had been killed. He wouldn't survive. He had accepted that fact after witnessing how hopeless fighting that human-turned-hollow had become. Especially now, with his body mangled beyond recognition. In trying to prove how helpless and weak the boy was, that there was no possible way to fight fate, he had sentenced himself to death. The irony wasn't lost on him.

He wondered why the finishing strike hadn't come. The Quincy boy couldn't have put up much resistance following his foolish attempt to stop Ichigo from killing Ulquiorra. This hollow, it appeared to enjoy playing with its prey. How familiar... Its attention should have returned to him by now. Did it intend to torture him until he was no longer conscious? Or was his sense of time merely distorted? In any case, he'd prefer this to end sooner rather than later. Not only because of the pain, but Aracelis-

His eyes flew open when he sensed her spiritual pressure spike. Before he'd been hit by the cero, she had been safely below. She noticed the battle had taken a turn, then. She obviously said, 'Screw your orders, I'm not letting you die.' To hell with Mirro, allowing her to do something so incredibly stupid! He may despise that thing, but he believed he would at least keep her from doing something so life-threatening. If her spiritual pressure alone did not attract the attention of this hollowfied Ichigo, she would try to avenge him. Obviously Mirro had already failed to keep her from bringing them both to their demise in her desperation; should he actually die, she would meet her end to take revenge rather than escape to safety. It's what he would do.

He focused the last of his energy on regenerating his legs and torso- failing to do so completely, in his condition. The hollow couldn't recognize the Quincy boy as his ally. The gathering spiritual pressure between the monster's horns showed its intention of kill the Quincy for his interference. Before the beast could fire or redirect the cero, Ulquiorra forced himself up, summoning an incredibly weak Lanza del Relampago. Sonido greatly strained his broken body.

As the creature's horn fell to the ground, Lanza still able to slice through, the cero began to misfire in a maelstrom of energy. The hollow wouldn't be able to fire another now. Had he not had the Quincy acting as a distraction, the hollow would have easily countered him. Having the hollow's attention back on him, it would buy Mirro time to retake control. The bastard would take her to safety, and, hopefully, allow her to live. The number of injuries Ulquiorra had sustained, Mirro should have seen that he wouldn't survive. As long as he left with her instead of staying to feed off the chaos of this battle…

His wing saved him from being incinerated in the resulting blast that tore up the ground. He landed a short distance away, just in time to watch as the hollow's mask shattered. Ichigo's spiritual pressure dropped dramatically as he returned to lying face down in the sand, the hole through his chest remaining. He was still dead. Ulquiorra let Lanza fade, struggling to maintain it. The woman rushed to Ichigo's side, repeating his name, saying she needed him and to not leave her. The display, he… He turned away, not wanting to see more of Aracelis in that woman. Worse, he saw himself in the two.

His body, the regeneration was all for show. Half his organs were gone, no chance of healing them in any form. Even the damaged organs, they'd take weeks if not months to recover. By all rights, he was a walking corpse living on borrowed time. He wouldn't last for much longer, especially in Segunda Etapa as it drained what little energy he had left.

He looked in the distance, seeing Aracelis writhing on the ground as she resisted Mirro to the very end. She had apparently cut open her shoulder, almost removing her arm judging the bloodstains, to silence Mirro. It explained how she managed to arrive in such a dangerous place. To regain dominion, Mirro had repaid her action. The awkward angle of her splintered wrist… It brought back memories that only made the situation more depressing. Her hand grasped the air as she tried to reach him... He wanted to go to her. He wanted to spend his final moments with her, yet… Yet that would be impossible. If his body didn't give out before reaching her, _she_ would likely be unconscious by then.

This battle… Or rather this rampage that he gone on, it had been incredibly selfish. This wasn't to protect her. This wasn't to follow Aizen's orders. These humans, he didn't want to understand them. He didn't want to admit that he did to some degree. He alone was to blame. Had he not been trying to prove some idiotic point to himself…

Look what he had earned himself. Aracelis would be forever cursed to play host to that disgusting creature because he had been afraid. Afraid of one of his damn emotions being named at long last… Instead he threw it all away. The opportunity for change she presented to him, he had thrown it back at her, leaving her to carry the burden of his memory in a broken heart. The feeling of seeing her injured, he dreaded to know how she felt after having seen him missing half his body and battered beyond repair. That would be her last memory of him, the one that she carried to the end of time… Or until she could no longer bare it.

What he had done was unforgivable.

A sound accompanied by a change in spiritual pressure made him look over his shoulder. The last of the hollow energy surrounding Ichigo gathered in the air before shooting into the hole in his chest. High speed regeneration. It could be nothing else. What had been a fatal wound healed like it had never been present. Not even a second passed before Ichigo shot up to his hands and knees, questioning how he was alive as he touched his chest in confusion and amazement. Just as quickly he was asking the woman if she was all right, smiling slightly when she was.

Then he seemed to remember he had another friend, whipping around before stumbling to his feet with a look of horror. "Uryuu…"

"I see… you've finally… snapped out of it." The Quincy struggled to speak in a level voice to hide his pain, Ichigo's sword stabbed through his stomach. So that had been the hollow's response to the boy daring to interrupt. He was lucky he hadn't killed the Quincy earlier… This Uryuu Ishida had taken an attack meant for him, and created an opportunity for him to stop the beast from slaughtering them all. He didn't doubt that it would have, given the chance.

"Am I the one responsible for that wound?" Ichigo said, voice shaking at the upsetting sight of his friend impaled by his own blade.

They would talk in circles like he wasn't there if he didn't say something. He didn't want to listen to them lament what had happened. "You're a hard guy to kill." When Ichigo saw the state he was in, he appeared oddly distraught. Ulquiorra didn't understand. Did Ichigo regret what had happened _to him_? It was understandable for him to feel guilt at injuring Ishida, but him? Or did Kurosaki see how he barely clung to life, assumed the battle had concluded, and this some look of relief? That he had won despite the odds? Again, he would prefer the second if he wanted a rational answer to an enemy viewing his injuries with such an expression.

Ulquiorra used sonido to move to the Quincy, regretting it a bit as the pain worsened. After pulling the blade out of the boy's stomach and tossing it to Ichigo, he ordered him to, "Pick it up." He refused to believe this human could regret injuring an enemy. That would be wholly ridiculous. Being shown mercy after what he had done, he wouldn't be able to comprehend that. He never even considered that happening. If his body didn't fail first, he thought these humans would kill him for what he had done. It's what he deserved. "Let's finish this."

"Am I the one who stabbed Uryuu?" Ichigo demanded instead, knowing the other two would want to avoid saying he had attacked one of his precious friends without provocation.

"Like I care." He summoned another Lanza, the brittle weapon on the verge of shattering.

"Was it also me… who cut off your left arm and leg?" He refused to answer the kid's question. It was already apparent that no one else could have caused the injuries. "If that's what happened, then cut off my left arm and leg!" Ichigo's friends were quick to question the sanity of his request. Even Ulquiorra found himself surprised by Ichigo's response to his condition, dispersing Lanza as his concentration began to falter. "The entity fighting you earlier was a hollowfied being with no consciousness! That wasn't me! If we're to settle this, I have to be in identical condition as you, or we won't be evenly matched!"

Would… would he really go through with this? He regretted taking away an enemy's advantage through disabling them to such a degree he would allow the same to be done to him? This… this had to be a trick. There was no way they would allow an enemy to live, let alone tear them apart to continue the battle under 'fair' conditions. Ichigo had to be acting, this all some ploy.

"Fine," Ulquiorra said, taking a step forward to call what had to be a bluff. "If that is your wish, I will oblige."

His wing tore as he moved. He glanced over his shoulder, watching as the wind carried the ashes away from his disintegrating wing. His entire body then began to slowly crumble to nothingness. He had exhausted all of his power using Segunda Etapa for so long, further testing his limits by regenerating countless wounds. The tree that fed this form, he must have depleted it in its entirety, it no longer able to sustain Segunda Etapa. The miniscule remnants would crumble away to return to reishi as his body did the same. He had drained every ounce of energy he had. Without the tree, any foolish hope of healing when he came out of his resurrección was lost.

"So this is how it ends…" He would lose everything. Aracelis. His power. His life. Nothing would remain because of his stubborn rejection of the truth. "Kill me." He would die no matter what. He might as well die by a sword again. At least this time, his enemy was more honorable, he supposed. "I won't resist," he added when the boy stood frozen. "I no longer even have the strength to walk. If you don't kill me now, this duel will remain unsettled forever."

"I can't do it."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, still confused by this boy pardoning him from a deserved death. "What are you saying?"

"I don't want to. Not like this," Ichigo said, voice trembling. The defiant eyes that had infuriated him turned to something akin to sadness. He didn't understand. "It's… It's wrong! This is not the way I want to defeat you!"

His eyes went wide before he blinked, looking to the ground. "To the very end, you just won't do what I want."

He didn't understand. Rationally, these humans should want him dead. Showing him mercy now… He was their enemy. From the very beginning they should have wished only for his death. For every hollows' death. Yet this boy felt remorse for what had occurred. After having a hole blasted through his chest, he felt guilty to see that very enemy suffering from the fatal wounds he had dealt him. Even the woman appeared willing to help him despite his cruelty towards her. Seeing her, he realized.

He… he didn't want to die. He glanced upwards, watching as Aracelis, or rather Mirro, retrieved her sword before walking away. He didn't want to leave her. With or without Mirro, he didn't want to be apart from her for the rest of time. He suddenly felt terrified, knowing the fate that awaited him. He would most likely go to hell, remembering his misdeeds as both a human and hollow, forever plagued by his failures as he suffered for the rest of time. The prospect of continuing to suffer even after a second death, he couldn't handle doing it all again. Or, if not that, his soul would be sent to the Soul Society, where he would forget what he held most dear, every memory of Aracelis erased. He couldn't stand the thought alone. Not now, as she had become everything to him.

Worse than any fate to befall him, Aracelis would blame herself. His selfish actions as he tried to deny what he already knew… Aracelis would think she caused his death in telling him she loved him. He would break her heart, and then make her believe it had been her own fault.

He couldn't die.

He looked away from Aracelis's retreating form to the one thing in existence that could possibly save him now: Orihime. The woman stared at him, sadness blatant on her every feature. She did not approach him. She did not verbally offer to heal him, or even attempt such. Perhaps she questioned what he would do if she did save him. He could very well try to kill Ichigo for a third time. Of all the goals to have unfortunately accomplished… He made her question if he could change. He made himself the monster he so wanted her to see him as.

"And just when I was finally becoming a little bit intrigued by the way you people behave," he said, knowing she would recognize what he meant, not able to put aside his damnable pride to outright beg her to save his pathetic life. Earlier he had tried to deny that he understood their actions. If he didn't have a basic understanding of what they would do in response to certain things, he wouldn't have been able to manipulate them. While he didn't particularly care about these humans' feelings, the second he considered how he would feel if something happened to Aracelis, that dammed sympathy forced him to see what he was doing. It took a great effort to do something as simple as raising his arm high enough that his fingers pointed to the center of her chest, repeating what he had done when he asked her what a heart was. "So, let me ask you again… Are you afraid of me, woman?"

"I'm not afraid," she said softly, sadness still reflected in her eyes. "I'm not afraid."

But it was already too late. "I see," he whispered as it became too strenuous to hold his arm up. When she reached to catch his falling hand, his entire arm quickly turning to ash, his energy spent. He could not resist the inevitable any longer. His reishi would scatter through the wind no matter what now. He looked to the ground, Aracelis the only thing he wanted to see, but she had already disappeared from sight.

He understood, now. Or rather, he accepted what he had known for quite some time. Aracelis, she had become his heart. And, with every attempt to reject his heart, he rejected hers as well. Yet every time that he stomped on her heart as irrational nonsense, she would willingly offer it to him again, even when she perhaps believed he would never feel the same for her. That he would never love her despite how close they had grown…

This entire time, in the palm of his hand, he held a heart. _Their_ heart. A bittersweet realization now, as he die without hope, his mind seeped in regret, guilt, and despair at having repressed what could have been happiness had he only accepted their feelings. The time they had spent together, he wanted to treasure it now, learning the significance of what he had as he felt it slipping from his grasp.

To the very end, what a splendidly awful burden this emotion called love was.

* * *

 **And with that, the events of Las Noches come to end, the two split apart once again.**

 **I'm considering going back and fixing a few things in chapter one (like minor, minor things) just to mesh it better with what's happened as the story's developed. I, ah, honestly had a limited idea of what I was doing when I started. And I'm not sure how much I will repeat of the first chapter when we get back to that in a few chapters.**

 **Thank you for reading! Seriously, some of you have been keeping up with this for like a year or more, and that just makes me so happy!**

 **Thank you to fitz26, Rachnee and Ziphera for following and/or favoriting! I hope you continue to enjoy!**

 **haipa-chan- The angst and desperation, I'm happy they came through! Writing 'emotional' things is sorta of weird, and I'm never too sure how they'll go over since rereading parts in editing kills the impact for me. Haha, projectile vomiting his feelings indeed! He's chosen a great time to recognize his own behavior. And I'm always glad Clematis parts go well, since usually the OCs are everywhere! The main reason she did decide to harass the three was because she would be in Las Noches anyways, so might as well be entertained. But, also, when she saw their memories, she decided that she hated Mirro and Ulquiorra for their current and past actions, and that letting them live happily defies her skewed sense of 'justice.' I haven't really thought of a way to include more explanation of Clematis's obsessive nature, since some of its from her human past that I've been thinking up, and, well, she's just a crazy hollow in general. It'll probably be an additional chapter when the rest is said and done. Onward, then! I'm excited to move past canon, especially since I started there mentally before typing the actual story. As always, thank you so much for reviewing; I mean, you've been here for more than a year, and that's so nice, so thank you!**

 **katethecate- Thank you for reviewing and reading! I'm glad you're enjoying the story a year from following!**

 **030artastic- Not your heart! Especially after this chapter added to the last! You're another person here for a year, so just wow! Thank you for the review and reading!**

 **guest- I know, I both love and dread this episode; although I've cried at 273's recap of it more often? Probably because he doesn't magically come back. I'm always really happy to hear that this is worth rereading! Hope it's just as good a second time! Thanks for reviewing!**


	43. Chapter 43- Cradle

Aracelis dragged her feet through the sand, swaying as she walked, exhausted mentally and physically.

" _Just give up already, will you? Go hunt or something,"_ Mirro complained. _"Get over it."_

"Just…" She was so tired of this, of him. She'd lost track of how much time had passed since…

" _Since he turned to a pile of dirt?"_

She flinched, muttering shut up under her breath. The reason she had no sense of time, it was because the moment she had woken up after witnessing that, she had lost control. Screaming at herself in the middle of the desert, sobbing uncontrollably, trying to turn around and go back, Mirro hated every moment of it. Rage had overtaken the sadness, leading to her trying to saw off her arm with her sword, aim a cero at herself, use her resurrección, or just get rid of _him_ in any manner she could think of, no matter how self-destructive. He had taken over. For a while, every time she awoke she would repeat the process. Mirro would make her fall unconscious after a struggle so he could take them further and further away from Las Noches, ruining whatever progress she had made in that direction.

Eventually, she'd given up. There was no point anyway. Her most important reason would never return there. He was gone forever… She had watched as he began to turn into ashes scattered by the wind.

" _If you understand that, then why the hell are we going to that damn tree?"_

It was a stupid reason. She wanted to go _somewhere_ that held a trace of him. His shirt had been comforting for only a short time… It had long since stopped smelling of him, his scent lost under the reek of blood, dirt, sweat, and tears. The shirt was falling apart as well. Both sleeves had already been torn off, frayed shoulders turned rust color with bloodstains as Mirro and her exchanged punishing blows. With traveling to the tree, and Mirro carelessly hunting and fighting other hollows when he had control, the coattails had begun to tatter. Even if she decided to avoid Las Noches, she knew she had nothing to go back to anyway. Their room had been destroyed in the battle. Nothing of theirs would have remained intact; not his clothes, not the bedding, not his notebooks, and not even the drawing he had given her. All that had been theirs was erased. Everything was gone that had been 'his', with the exception of the tree. Las Noches was a monument to her loss.

" _I swear, if you try to crawl in there like that idiot did…"_

She ignored him. It's not like he would let her _actually_ enter the mass of thorns. Nope, he'd steal control. She just wanted to be near it, for now, in hopes its energy provided some sense of comfort to her inconsolable mood.

So, she kept walking. It wasn't much further now, but she had long since run out energy to use sonido for travel. What Mirro didn't claim for himself, she had exhausted in fighting with him and crossing the desert to this point. As soon as she arrived, she would be curling up in a ball to sleep.

When the tree became visible on the horizon, her heart felt more crushed than it already was. What had once been a gnarled mass of branches and thorns had dwindled to nothing more than a room-sized pile of crumbling limbs. After taking just a few more steps, chucks of crystal branches fell to the ground, disintegrating before being pulled towards her as her ability tried to devour the reishi. Adjusting to exerting a tiny amount to spiritual pressure continued to damage the remains all the same.

It was dying too.

She used sonido to quickly move away before she destroyed the last thing in this world related to him. Even then, it would likely continue to decay. Her face met the sand as she gave into exhaustion at long last, sonido having pushed her beyond her limits. The grit stuck to the fresh tears that managed to slip out while she had been more concerned about the tree's condition than repressing the stupid emotions.

It's not like she had much else to do than lie in the cold sand for hours on end, acting like a pathetic mess befitting of a child rather than a hollow.

* * *

His eyes flew open after a surge in spiritual pressure. Immediately, his entire body burned with pain. The sense of déjà vu paired with his hazy vision made the confusion all the worse. It took a moment to recognize he was no longer on the battlefield, half-dead as the hollowfied human rampaged, and that Aracelis hadn't been in danger currently. But she had been nearby, deciding to turn away judging her fading presence.

Through blurred vision, he finally saw where he was. The tree. From the moonlight able to shine through the thinned branches, he could tell the tree had withered dramatically. A falling piece of crystal showed it was crumbling more and more with every second. Aracelis, her spiritual pressure would have easily crushed the remains, perhaps him along with it, or her ability would have torn the weakened limbs apart. Had she come closer, she would have killed him. Even though he wanted to follow after her, his ever-deteriorating condition would prevent such a reunion. It would be cruel indeed to make her witness his death once more.

Being awake a matter of seconds, he had noticed his injuries had worsened. The tree, since it had been connected to him, must have tried to regenerate his body, but failed. Miraculously it had reconstructed his brain, but every other organ was likely incomplete or nonexistent, his body a mere shell. His vision remained blurred, now noticeable that he had only one severely damaged eye to see with. He could feel the cold breeze hit patches of skinless flesh wet with blood. His appearance must have been truly horrifying right now.

He almost found it hilarious how he was trapped in a cycle of thinking he had died only to wake up in immense pain- how many times _had_ this occurred? Yet he didn't have time to consider his fate or condition. Rather quickly, he would truly be dead, his, what he believed, _fourth_ chance at life slipping away as his brain overanalyzed what he should just accept as a miracle for the time being.

Now he had to hope for a second miracle. Kurosaki, if he didn't somehow manage to defeat Aizen to protect his friends, his death would be inevitable. The woman, he nearly prayed she would be as foolishly forgiving as ever. She remained the only thing capable of bringing him back the near dead.

If he even made it that far.

Standing made his vision dance between black unconsciousness and blurred white scenery. The tree limbs connected to his body fell away to show him that the tree had been entirely supporting his weight. His left leg remained severely injured, practically useless in walking. If the pain didn't already make him near passing out, taking one step made him bite back a pathetic whimper. Without Segunda Etapa numbing the injuries… He forgot how tortuous perceiving pain could be.

Perhaps this was his punishment for his actions…

Opening a garganta had been an arduous chore as he had tried to raise his pain-ridden arm- he found out he still only had one, his left missing, that honestly less painful than his existent right arm. Snapping his damn fingers seemingly took forever as he fumbled to tell what he was even moving. Stumbling through the dark precipice had been admittedly terrifying. He had almost no spiritual pressure to form a path with, so he ended up haphazardly weaving down a narrow, brittle pathway above unending darkness. How Aracelis had managed this herself after he'd injured her… He didn't give her enough credit.

The second he left the darkness to step out into a sunset-lit sky, he fell, face meeting concrete with hellish pain. He barely clung to consciousness, his body refusing to move. In the brief moment he had been above, he found a bit of hope in that he had successfully dropped himself outside of the woman's home.

A high-pitched scream marked his luck having perhaps changed.

* * *

The next time he woke, he could hear voices. Two familiar, if a bit irritating, voices in a heated discussion that did not make him want to open his eyes in risk of joining it. He was still much too tired to deal with the humans. At least the pain had lessened, he supposed.

"Orihime, Tatsuki's worried about you. What's going on?" Ichigo. Ulquiorra could pick that infuriating voice out easily. He sounded exasperated, as well as concerned. Ulquiorra remembered the other name, but the jolt of waking up in yet another, this time unfamiliar, place, kept the exact information from him. "You've been running off after school, and not hanging out with anybody lately. Tatsuki's really upset that you brushed her off yesterday. Refusing to let her in and then closing the door on her, it's not like you at all."

Tatsuki… Yes, she had been one of the humans with abnormal spiritual pressure, but no abilities beyond that. The one that Yammy had attacked. At least the woman had the sense to prevent her from seeing him. He doubted this Tatsuki would forget someone who had essentially ordered her death after calling her trash. Pathetically, a human _could_ kill him right now…

"I… I know. I really need to apologize to her for that..." Orihime trailed off, guilty about whatever had happened. He finally located them, but that hardly proved a good thing. By the sound of things, they were in the same room. Ichigo just hadn't noticed him yet. He really didn't wish to deal with them both with how poorly he felt; he already had a headache he did not want exacerbated. "But I couldn't… I…"

She was terrible at hiding things. He imagined she began wringing her hands nervously, tipping the already suspicious Ichigo off that something was out of place.

"Hey, when did you get that divider?"

"O-oh, um, just, ah, it was on sale for really good price and I liked the trees painted on it and I bought it because it was such a good price and pretty, right, so I-" The sound of footsteps made her begin sputtering, run-on train of thoughts ending in growing panic. "Ichigo, um, don't-"

Silence as the footsteps stopped in front of him. He feigned sleep, not wanting to be a part of this conversation at all.

"Orihime," Ichigo said, voice raising from calm to alarmed in the span of a few words, "What's going on? How is he even alive? And here?"

Orihime took a deep breath before spilling everything she could at once. "I don't really know how he survived, but a few weeks ago, he just sort dropped out of the sky and landed in front of me. He had so many injuries; worse than before. He was missing skin, and his arm, and… And it was just awful! Do you remember those two days I skipped school saying I was sick? I was actually taking care of Ulquiorra because he really seemed like he was about to die. He's been asleep this whole time, too, and I don't know if he'll ever wake up at this rate. I'm trying so hard, yet…"

"Orihime, I…" Ichigo sighed heavily. "I don't know about this. I… I regret how that battle ended, but he kidnapped you! He killed me twice! He's one of the Espada… If the Soul Society finds out you've been keeping him here, healing him, they're not going to just brush it off. Not to mention, if he, or other hollows sensing him, attack you…" Another sigh, followed quietly by, "I don't know if I can protect you if that happens."

That doubt, it piqued Ulquiorra's curiosity. This was the boy that refused to admit defeat even standing before Segunda Etapa. For him to say he couldn't protect the woman… Ulquiorra sensed that the boy's spiritual pressure had dwindled greatly, it now so weak that he was almost a completely unremarkable human. In fact, he must just barely be clinging to the ability to see spirits and hollows. A consequence of fighting Aizen, perhaps? They'd managed to win somehow, considering they still lived and Karakura yet existed, but of course that had to come at some price. Ichigo couldn't defeat Ulquiorra without that hollow state. To defeat Aizen, the boy had been forced to go to extremes that ultimately appeared to cost him his powers.

"Don't worry about me, Ichigo," Orihime quickly tried to reassure. He imagined she did so while waving her hands in dismissal or posing heroically to show she could take care of herself. "I know you're concerned. I… I don't think I can ever forgive him for attacking you, but I also don't think he should die when I can still help. It may be hard to believe, but he's not completely evil, and I think he wants to change. I don't think he'll hurt me, or anyone else, either. I think most of what he did was to follow Aizen's orders, or out of confusion towards emotions." She paused her oddly perceptive analysis.

If she had continued, he would have interrupted, Ichigo one of the last people in existence that needed to hear about his difficulty coming to terms with the fact he had emotions. Or that their entire battle had been him childishly throwing a tantrum over said emotions. Ulquiorra also couldn't believe, despite admitting she couldn't fully forgive his actions, that she would still help him. He had attacked her friends, killed Ichigo twice, kidnapped her, manipulated her, and was incredibly cruel to her, yet she saved him from death. Foolish girl, as always. It would make more sense if she had done this out of pity for Aracelis rather than believing he could change.

"I'm sorry for keeping this a secret from you, Ichigo," Orihime said, tone sad, yet sincere in her apology. "From everyone else, too. I was hoping it wouldn't take so long. His spiritual pressure is just now starting to return…"

"Do you need help with something?" Ichigo reluctantly offered in response to whatever pleading expression Orihime must have shot his way. Listening to these two was tiring.

"Do you think you can come with me to ask Mr. Urahara to make him a gigai?"

Ulquiorra made the effort to open his eyes when the silence gave no clear indication of an answer. He had a limited understanding of what a 'gigai' was, only recalling it served as some sort of vessel to make a Soul Reaper have physical form in the World of the Living. Nothing about hollows using them. Kisuke Urahara could likely create such a thing, it was just questionable why he would even begin to consider creating one for a former Espada. He thought the silence surely meant Ichigo recognized Orihime's idea as ludicrous. Instead he saw the woman smiling happily as Ichigo finished nodding his head in agreeance to go forth with such a ridiculous idea.

Unfortunately, they then glanced at him.

"You're awake!" Orihime hurriedly scrambled his side, kneeling down. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

He ignored her.

"You've been asleep for weeks!" she continued. "You still have a lot of injuries, too. I'm having a really difficult time healing you because your spiritual pressure is already so different, and… And traces of Ichigo's hollow form's spiritual pressure is still mixed in with yours." She sounded guilty at not being more helpful. He'd never understand this woman's irrational amount of kindness.

His acknowledgement to her words came as a slight nod. Without the risk of immediate death hanging over him, he began to piece together how he had survived. His body turning to ash, or rather particles of reishi, had been the tree attempting to recall him before he completely decomposed. Some of the spiritual pressure from Ichigo's hollowfied form had become entangled in his own, following him back to the tree, remaining as it struggled to regenerate his body to a viable degree. In addition to that beast's spiritual pressure, the nature of his own seemed to clash with the woman's ability, slowing the process. He had seen this before, when she had been unable to reject the hole through Ichigo's chest. Not that his strength would return in-full by her power alone. He would have to wait for the tree- if it even existed now- to regrow, or physically take the woman to it. He was not keen on the idea of revealing its location, and its connection to him, to the humans. Aracelis he trusted with that information, but no one else. It was bad enough Mirro and Clematis knew.

Talking while laying down, staring up at the two humans, annoyed him. He then made the mistake of attempting to sit up. Pushing himself up made his left arm flare with throbbing pain, his lower body screaming in agony as every internal structure and organ remained partially healed. She hadn't lied about having an issue reversing the damage done by Ichigo's hollow form. Additionally, he felt dizzy, everything around him spinning in a nauseating circle. Any twitch sent more pain shooting through his body, so he tried to keep motionless. Lying back down would be just as painful…

Orihime flailed her hands, looking like she wanted to keep him from sitting up, but also reluctant to touch him. Human modesty, he still found it hilarious. Of course, he had no clothes on. It's not like the tree had energy to spare on creating something so frivolous. Both humans looked mortified as the blanket covering him fell with gravity, his bare chest in view, it then obvious to he had nothing on- Orihime's reaction made him wonder how she put aside her embarrassment to carry his limp body inside to begin with. Aracelis would have been embarrassed along with them, but also cackling at the stupid look on their flustered faces. Aracelis…

"Y-you really should lie back down," Orihime managed to force out, distracting him. "You'll hurt yourself!"

Too late for that. In his stubborn refusal to be looked down on like a weak, injured creature on its death bed, he had reopened some internal injuries. Right now, about all he could do was resist coughing up blood and keep his face blank like he didn't want to pass out.

"Hey," Ichigo cut in, scowl on his face. "You should listen to her. You know you can't go back to Hueco Mundo like that."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. Despite that being irrefutably true, hearing it from the boy struck a nerve. If he had the energy to deal with a pointless argument, he might have mentioned that he had noticed that Ichigo had lost his powers. So, he directed at Orihime, "Explain what a gigai is beyond a false body." He wanted an explanation so he could go back to sleep without concern to what she plotted to do with him.

"Oh, um," Orihime sat back, gathering her thoughts. "It is sort of like a fake body, I guess, but it can make you visible to normal people. It can also hide your spiritual pressure, from what I've seen, so that's what we need. I'm sure Mr. Urahara could make it so you can regain your strength a bit faster, too."

What a lackluster description. After glancing at Ichigo, hoping in vain for more information, he blinked, looking away from the two. He would be trapped here for a time, then. Although, if Urahara did agree to create a gigai for him, he could ask him for more useful information. Hiding spiritual pressure, this aspect intrigued him. Surely that would mean actively restraining spiritual pressure, but, perhaps, it could be taken a step further…

"Ulquiorra, where's Aracelis?"

He felt his expression break apart at the mere mention of her name. He had no idea where she would be, what she would be doing, or if she was even okay. Why did the woman need to do this? Avoiding thinking of 'what ifs' had been critical to ignoring how worried he felt. Aracelis, she would likely be distraught over losing him still. Who knows what reckless stunts she would pull because of her emotional state… Or what she already had done. It had been weeks since he had been in Las Noches, and he had no idea how long he had been in the tree before that.

"Sorry." Orihime's face shifted with her apology. "I didn't-"

"Who's that?" Ichigo interrupted with his lacking tact. During battle, he had assumed the woman had told Ichigo about Aracelis and her connection to him. Apparently Ichigo had just said he'd become more human-like as taunt without evidence, unknowingly striking a raw nerve.

"My subordinate," Ulquiorra said, giving a warning look to Orihime as she opened her mouth to answer. "She was alive when I left, although she doesn't know I survived," he added, his voice quieter than he intended. A heavy silence fell between them, Ichigo confused, but knowing to hold his tongue, and Orihime as sympathetic as ever, but understanding that pushing the topic would rile him up. There was but a select few scenarios he could see the humans providing information towards. "Did any of the other Espada survive?" Mirro, if he had taken control, the glutton would likely hunt Arrancar, but avoid the Espada. Aracelis may agree or disagree dependent on who was alive.

"I healed Harribel and her Fracción," Orihime answered, the only name she offered the only one he really cared to hear.

If the Third… No, right now, she must be in control Hueco Mundo. Not that that mattered. So long as Harribel sought out Aracelis, or Aracelis went to her, Harribel would offer her some form of companionship. Aracelis may be okay, then. He really hoped that that was the case, as her being alone would probably intensify any feelings of guilt and sadness she held for his presumed death as she overthought everything; that loneliness paired with guilt had lead him to the tree, and he did not wish her a similar fate.

"With how stubborn he is, Grimmjow might have," Ichigo added. "I don't think Nnoitra actually killed him."

As upsetting as it was to learn the cat was still alive and well, which didn't bode well for Aracelis should they cross paths, this caught his interest. When he had broken free of the Caja de Negación, he had merely assumed that Ichigo's being alive meant Grimmjow had been killed. He never confirmed it. Aracelis had been his only concern. There was one other person he never bothered confirming alive or dead at that time that could prove useful.

"And Nelliel?" Even if Aracelis hadn't met her before, the ridiculous woman would be friendly enough to approach Aracelis should they meet. From experience, he knew Nelliel was annoyingly persistent in being 'friends' with everyone she took a liking to.

"You mean Nel, right?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow, dubious. From the confused look lacking any sadness, he took it she had survived as well. "Do you know her?"

"Yes." Obviously. He knew her name, didn't he? Even if they never learned she had been a former Espada, knowing her name should have been enough to show he was familiar with her. "Is she still trapped in that ridiculous child-like form without her memory?" Actually, having her appear as a less threatening child might assist her if she did find Aracelis.

Ichigo's eyes got a bit wide as he searched for an answer. "I don't know, actually. She had changed while fighting Nnoitra, and could remember him, but then I went to rescue Orihime, so I don't know what exactly happened to her." The end was said with a hint of guilt, as he had been the one to bring Nelliel into Las Noches, only to abandon her after she fought the Fifth. In any case, if she had her memory, it would help. She would recognize Aracelis. She would be curious and approach her.

"Ichigo Kurosaki," he stated, beginning to address the sole matter he could in his current state. He narrowed his eyes at Ichigo, dropping his voice. If he had the spiritual pressure, he would have flared it to add to his threatening promise. "Aracelis may seek revenge against you for my apparent death. Should she come here, and should you harm her in any way, I will seek retribution." If the boy didn't appear taken aback at the threat already, he added with cold sincerity, "If you kill her, know that I will kill one of your sisters." Orihime's life wouldn't be enough. He would take someone Ichigo undoubtedly loved.

Ichigo's face went from stunned to enraged in a flash. He took a step forward, fists as tightly clenched as his jaw. "What did you say?" he growled through his teeth. Threatening his friends was one thing; his family another entirely.

Orihime looked between the two in a panic before shooting up to her feet. She positioned herself between them as neither of them backed down from glaring at each other. "He's just worried! He didn't mean it! So, um, let's just all take a deeeep breath and calm down! Okay, Ichigo?" When Ichigo glanced at her before looking back at Ulquiorra, she tried a different approach. Her attention went to Ulquiorra. "You just don't want her to get hurt, right? _Please_ just say so. You don't need to threaten us to make us understand. I know she's important to you."

When he said nothing, disappointment shown in her eyes.

"Ichigo, I think we should let Ulquiorra rest. We can go talk outside." With that, Ulquiorra frowned at her. She could tell Ichigo whatever she wanted outside; it's not like he could follow them out. Saying Aracelis was important to him, despite that being an understatement, had caught Ichigo's attention already.

Ichigo heaved a sigh at her pleading look, giving in with an expression of exasperation. Orihime took a few steps to lead the way, but Ichigo lingered. "Don't you dare hurt my family," he warned, determination combined with a fierce glare. "Or Orihime."

Ulquiorra remained silent, keeping to his threat. He meant it. It should serve as motivation to avoid attacking Aracelis should she arrive, even if the boy wasn't as dangerous as he had been. If nothing happened to her, Ulquiorra had no reason to harm any human, especially Orihime. His condition would improve with her assistance, and he could still have use of her after that… He just needed some more information about the mechanics of a _gigai_ from someone actually knowledgeable.

Until then, he decided recovering was secondary to another goal. He had no excuses now, no longer bound to the will of Aizen. Considering a solution to ridding Aracelis of Mirro could be his priority.

 _Aracelis_ could _finally_ be his sole priority.

* * *

A few days slowly passed. He found he hated being immobile. Being incapable of leaving the futon spread out on the floor to even bathe, it drove him insane. Right now, he felt about as powerful as a toddler, his only weapon the threat of a tantrum. The partition that separated him from the living space of the woman hardly blocked her presence. No matter how much he wished for time to be alone, he couldn't escape Orihime. Even when she didn't attempt to speak with him, he could hear her moving about the small apartment, listening to irritating music and 'TV shows', or cooking concoctions with smells appalling to a hollow- he never believed he would miss the smell of blood until he came here. When Ichigo came to check on her it was all the more annoying.

He despised sleeping more than anything, though. The brief time he fell completely unconscious, that didn't bother him. It was the fitful, half-conscious times that worsened the situation tenfold- he dreaded to think what would happen if he had the ability to dream. Tactile hallucinations plagued him. When he began to wake, his brain would sometimes forget that he had retreated to the human world, seeking the comfort of memories instead. The most recent memories of lying in bed, warm, they of course included Aracelis. A few times he thought she was there with him, cuddled up to his side with her arms around him… Waking up to see otherwise nearly tormented him in the disappointment and sadness he felt when he realized they were worlds apart. That she could be dead.

Feeling so helpless did nothing to improve his mood.

Urahara had since agreed to create a gigai, but that news came from the woman. He had no opportunity to question the Soul Reaper on the false body's workings. It made progressing his plans impossible.

"Ulquiorra?" Orihime's voice broke his train of thought. She took her spot at his side, sitting down in a show she planned to make this a conversation and not a short exchange. He glanced at her before looking back at the ceiling- he'd grown to hate this view as well, the plain ceiling not even offering him something to obsessively count out of sheer boredom. "Do you miss Aracelis?"

His brow twitched to frown. What a stupid question.

"You've been very quiet…" she muttered. It irritated him more. She had no reason to presume how he normally behaved. "If you want, we could go try to find her." His eyes widened, but she misunderstood the reaction, excitedly launching into an explanation. "Mr. Urahara can open up a garganta for me and a few others to go look for her! We can tell you're h-"

"No," he stated with absolute finality, narrowing his eyes as he looked at her. "Not only is Hueco Mundo vast and the odds of finding her any time soon incredibly low, you could potentially get her killed." Orihime let out a small gasp, eyes wide as she waited for him to elaborate, not making the connection herself. "If you miraculously found her, and she did not tear you apart on sight, Mirro would take control of her upon learning of my survival. He would kill her if he hasn't done so already."

This was a point in his recent plan that remained precarious. Mirro, if he knew of his survival, without a doubt he would finish Aracelis off out of fear. The creature would understand that Ulquiorra no longer had any distractions in finding a way to end his existence. He would first need to rely on her being driven to seek revenge against Ichigo. Her temper, for once he hoped it would override her rationality; something related to him would only need to trigger an over-the-top reaction from her to send her into targeting Ichigo. With her arrival, if a gigai could be made with certain specifications, he could weaken the parasite until it could be removed with minimal damage to Aracelis, the woman than healing anything she couldn't herself. To get Aracelis into a gigai, Mirro couldn't be aware that he had formed a plan until after it was already set into motion. These humans, if they went to Hueco Mundo and told Aracelis of his survival, Mirro would never allow Aracelis to leave.

While Orihime finished mumbling an apology at the situation, he changed topics. "Woman, I wish to speak with Urahara about the viability of constructing Aracelis a gigai. If nothing has happened to her, she will inevitably come here to take revenge on Kurosaki."

"I… I could ask him about it. He's already taking such a risk helping you, though, so I'm not sure…" She trailed off, likely concerning herself with how many problems she had created for herself and her friends in taking in a former enemy. Trying to please everyone was impossible in this situation.

"Woman," he said as her preoccupied silence dragged on beyond his limited patience. He could only stay awake for so long before he passed out from exhaustion- or, a few times, pain as he physically pushed himself too far. Her attention shot away from her hands to his face. "Fetch me a notebook of some sort and something to write with."

"Oh, um," she stood up, looking around before she walked off to root around for the requested items.

The lack of her questioning the strange request and the odd obedience, it must have stemmed from the fact he didn't once request something from her before this. Not even clothes. When she returned, she plopped back down, setting the notebook and pencil to the side as she forcibly helped him sit up; she'd learned to ignore his cold glares because he would inevitably hurt himself more if allowed his stubbornness. Coughing up blood from reopening wounds was not something she wished for.

She then handed him the notebook and pencil, watching him carefully as he opened to the first page. "You shouldn't sit up for too long," she pestered, as though she would be leaving him in peace and not closely monitoring him while he set to sketching out lines.

"Leave," he finally ordered, unable to handle her looking over his work. He wanted to be alone so he could concentrate. Drawing this as accurately and precisely as possible could mean a world of difference to Aracelis. Diagrams of her nervous system and how he believed Mirro to be interconnected, he would be taking these with to discuss with Urahara should he accept creating her a gigai. At this point, if asking a Soul Reaper for assistance in removing Mirro was what had to be done, he would. Pride didn't matter.

"Okay," Orihime sighed as she stood up. "Just remember to take a break soon."

He kept quiet, working before she forced him to take a break. Another irritating thing happened to be that she _could_ take the notebook from him if she wanted. How demeaning… In any case, once the diagrams were completed, he would write down everything he knew about the damn creature. Then, if Urahara could create a gigai for Aracelis, Ulquiorra would need to explain to the woman, and Kurosaki, what needed to be done when Aracelis arrived. He just hoped that he would have time to place this into action before she showed up…

 _If_ she showed up…

* * *

 **Okay, so nothing too exciting, really. I didn't want to have Orihime just bring him back, because that's, well, sort of boring. I mean, Orihime did struggle while trying to save Ichigo, so the source of that energy, and him being ash, I don't think she could have saved him herself at that point. I hope it worked well enough. He'd a man with a plan, now, though. Of course, we already know she does show up, but the rest will hopefully entertain!**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to batosaix, labryrinth034, occlts, Lovetoshea, and monsterhunter101 for following and/or favoriting!**

 **katethecate-I do like causing emotions… And I totally rewatched Bleach because I was reading a different fic too! Hormones and shows with some sad moments are a heck of a combination though, haha. Glad you're enjoying!**

 **haipa-chan- Yes, tears! I mean, yeah, I'm a sappy person at heart and totally cried while typing a few of these chapters- probably doesn't help I type late at night-, but bringing the emotions to other people is always enjoyable! I'm really happy that it worked out well enough, because people really do 'lynchpin' the hand-holding-out as the basis of a romance thing. I didn't want to completely take it out either, though, since its symbolic to him reaching out in that he understands what a heart is, that in that same moment he lost it to death. Or here, where he is desperate to live, scared to die and face the end with the veneer of indifference he wore. And yep, that's exactly why I need to adjust ch 1 or better explain things when it comes around again; a lot of shit has happened, and their reunion could stand to be a bit more intense. I really like that you were re-reading 'for funsies.' Aracelis's sword command certainly got lost in the chaos, but I sort of planned that so I could use it in a bit ;) You know I love questions! I could answer them all day in essay form if I didn't restrain myself. But I agree; I'm a bit disappointed that Clematis is** _ **just**_ **crazy at this point because that's sort of lazy writing on my part, but I also don't want her to be too sympathetic or anything right now, you know? Eh. What's done is done at this point. So, yeah, backstory side-chapter at the end for her for sure! AND YOU ARE SO RIGHT! Tangela is** _ **totally**_ **Clematis as a Pokemon. I seriously laughed when I read that because it's just so accurate and hilarious! I love that authors and reviewers can never agree on who to thank, but you're welcome. I'm glad my work has been noticed and appreciated, especially as its ongoing!**


	44. Chapter 44- Motivation

" _Can you do something besides mope, idiot? Go hunting or something!"_ The whining tone had as much affect as usual. She had heard the exact thing for… For however long she'd been lying in grit. _"Damn it! I never thought I'd be the one bored out of my damn mind! Get up!"_

She ignored him, eyes vacantly staring out over the water as the moon's reflections danced on the wind-disturbed surface. How many days _had_ she been lying here, anyway? The last time she got up was to watch an idiotic Adjucha attempt to drink from the lake. Watching its throat melting to strangle its screams had been… Boring, actually. She had tried to find entertainment in it, knowing she would have before... everything. Coming to this desolate place, killing whatever showed up by devouring them or tossing them into the acidic water, she'd hoped it would let her latch back onto to what it meant to be a hollow. It didn't work, of course.

" _Damn it, girl! Do something other than whine!"_

In protest, she dug her fingers into the sand.

" _Go hunt s-"_

"I'm not fucking hungry!" she screamed, about ready to let off a cero at her damn shoulder. Instead she grabbed a fist full of sand and threw it. Every damn two seconds Mirro complained and complained about eating! And then he accused _her_ of whining!? "Shut up and leave me the hell alone!"

" _You're going to stand up and do something, or I will make you!"_ He snarled, a wave of pain flashing through her head. Maybe that's why he insisted on hunting so often; he was the hungry one. He kept taking control at the slightest resistance she gave, especially when it came to food. _"I'm done sitting here while you have a pathetic pity party for yourself! Get up and-"_

She shot up, sitting in the sand as her actual instincts alerted her to the presence of a hollow. An unfamiliar Arrancar, more specifically. Despite the tiny amount of threat this Arrancar presented, Mirro ordered her to stand, to flee or feed depending on their strength. She refused. Aracelis sat in the sand, merely glancing over her shoulder as she refused to so much as turn her entire body. They continued to approach at a leisurely pace, not using sonido or walking, nor seeming to be hiding themselves from her- if they even knew she was there, as she had been absorbing energy, too lazy to fight Mirro on that front. A few other, smaller, spiritual pressures followed the Arrancar at a distance, like they had perhaps lagged behind.

When a small frame topped with a cracked skull mask and teal hair popped over a dune, she tilted her head to the side. A child Arrancar? She couldn't remember how many of the servants had been child-sized. In fact, the most similar Arrancar to this one had been the mosquito- and she had been torn in half, very dead. As soon as the other spotted Aracelis staring, it launched itself headfirst at her with what Aracelis wanted to call a failed sonido.

Upon skidding into the sand just short of colliding with Aracelis, the hollow shot up, grinning happily like they'd found a dear old friend and not a former Número. A line of red ran below their eyes, across their nose and cheeks. "It's you!" she screamed, the sudden noise making Aracelis want to cover her ears. Aracelis kept her eyes narrowed in confusion, not understanding what was going on, beginning to think she had finally lost her mind to sadness-induced-insanity. The kid kept grinning.

"Do… Do I know you?"

"Nope!"

At this point, Aracelis didn't even know how to respond. She stared blankly at the kid, waiting for an explanation of some sort to come tumbling out.

The child giggled a few times at her reaction. "You're the girl Ulquiorra used to draw all the time!"

"Who are you?" Her defensive tone broke through the demand. Was this some sort of poor joke? "How did you know…?" She glanced to the side, biting her lip at how she froze, his name not wanting to leave her lips. If thinking it caused a twinge of pain in her chest, saying it aloud might cause her to break down in tears. Again. She was so damn annoyingly pathetic.

"My name is Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck! Nel for short!"

Nelliel. She vaguely recognized the name, remembering that Ulquiorra had mentioned her before. She didn't expect the former Espada to look like a small child, though. How something as small as Nel could bother him…

"I was the one that found Ulquiorra when I had still been a part of the Espada." She smiled happily, recalling some memory. "He really hated when I looked at his drawings. Or tried to talk to him." Nel shifted her weight, the reminiscence on her childish face unfitting. No matter appearances, Nel remained what was likely decades old in hollow terms. Ulquiorra also mentioned something about Nnoitra possibly being the cause to Nel's disappearance; maybe that was why she had a giant crack in her mask. "But he always kept to himself, and that seemed a bit sad to me. He would draw you a lot when he first came to Las Noches. Since we never found any Arrancar that looked like you, I assumed you had died somehow…"

Aracelis let her attention drift back to the ground. How bittersweet. The reason he hadn't wanted her to see his drawings were because some had been of her. He had missed her... Or at least had been thinking of her. It also showed how guilty he had felt when he thought he had killed her. Had he let her look, she could have tried to reassure him it wasn't his fault much sooner…

"You're Aracelis, right?"

She snapped her head back up. Ulquiorra sure as hell wouldn't have told Nel her name even if she had somehow managed to sneak a peek at his drawings. Knowing him, he would have closed the notebook and walked away without a word.

Nel smiled slightly at how perplexed she was by this exchange. "Harribel has been looking for you."

"Harribel's… She's alive?" With how much time had passed, and the lack of Aizen parading around, she had assumed the humans and soul reapers somehow found a way to kill the prick. Still, she didn't expect any of the Espada to be left alive, least of all the ones that had gone to the human world. In a way, she had wanted them to be dead. Ulquiorra was, so why should the others get to live…

"Orihime healed Harribel and her Fracción. For a while now, she's been reluctantly acting as our leader. We'd rather not have anyone making too much trouble for the Soul Society," Nel said, a hint of nervousness coming through- also a recognizable lisp. Aracelis understood not trusting the soul reapers to _not_ form an extermination team and send it to Hueco Mundo to kill off all of Aizen's former pawns. Sort of in their job description. "Harribel's been trying to gather the Arrancar so we can all work together. She mentioned you by name few times. Are you friends?"

"I…" Nel was… odd. To so casually toss out the word friend… Maybe that's why Ulquiorra thought they'd get along. He'd been making a dry joke in comparing their use of 'friend.' She didn't have an answer, either. Was Harribel her _friend?_ Acquaintance? Yes. A dependable one at that. So maybe? Nel leaned forward, eyes wide as she waited for an answer. "Um, sure."

"Then you should come back to Las Noches with me!"

" _We are_ _ **not**_ _going with her!"_ Mirro growled and hissed. She imagined he would be tossing things about if he had a physical form.

Aracelis ignored them both. "Did an Arrancar named Clematis join you guys?" Her face scrunched up at having to consider that idiotic weed. One thing was for sure, if that thing was there, Aracelis would never go to Las Noches to so much as say 'hi' to Harribel. Even then, she didn't feel like returning to the crumbling palace at the moment. Or maybe ever.

Nel's expression almost mirrored Aracelis's at the mention of the infamous weed. The universal look of exhaustion and repulsion automatically showed Nel had met Clematis at some point. "Well, no, but…" Nel trailed off, bouncing her weight between her feet like she had stayed still for too long. "But she was actually the one that told Harribel you were still alive." Typical Clematis. When Nel finished with, "And then she just ran off," it didn't surprise Aracelis.

She couldn't find the motive in it, as she refused to believe the weed had done something merely out of the 'kindness of her heart.' Hell, sharing her sword command had been a jab at Mirro. She also doubted that Clematis would have helped her had she not simultaneously been able to antagonize Mirro more. But then again, Clematis didn't seem to have too much impulse control, so maybe Aracelis had struck some scrap of sympathy in the weed in begging for help. But that was the issue. Clematis couldn't be predicted. She might try to kill her the next time they saw each other for all she knew.

"You can tell Harribel I'm alive," Aracelis replied as Nel returned to waiting hopefully for an answer. Too friendly for a hollow… They'd met a few minutes ago. If anything, Nel should be wary of her connection to Ulquiorra, not use it to perhaps justify her friendliness.

"But why?" Nel quickly said with child-like disappointment shining in her eyes.

Aracelis shrugged, not wanting to actually explain that if she went back, she might bawl like a child as she was slapped in the face with the familiarity of the place. "If I change my mind, I know where to find you guys, so…" 'Just leave me alone,' she mentally finished.

" _You should eat her. There's no way she can put up a fight, as small as she is. And those three in the distance? They're barely worthy of being called Arrancar. Right?"_

Glutton.

With another flicker of maturity beyond her physical form, Nel sighed, nodding her head slightly. "You're stubborn, aren't you? Ulquiorra was the same, so I know better than to prod." Aracelis's gaze went to the ground; she didn't need their similarities pointed out right now. She didn't need her own reactions reminding her of him. "If you get too lonely, we'll be waiting at Las Noches."

"Yeah, whatever," Aracelis mumbled, turning her back to Nel before she flopped back onto the ground. Nel said nothing else, the sound of her light footsteps growing quieter and quieter as she walked towards her allies in the distance.

" _Really? Come on, a meal like that doesn't show up too often!"_

"Then take control, bastard." She waited for a response, but silence filled her head.

Mirro was in a huff again. Apparently, he wanted 'high quality' meat instead of the pathetic things she had been hunting near the lake. She wondered how long he would put up with a hunger strike before he finally snapped. Sounded like something to test while lying around. And, well, tormenting Mirro was about the only thing that brought her a mild sense of enjoyment any more.

* * *

He flexed his hand, stiff fingers clasping the air. Ulquiorra found the responsiveness sluggish and clumsy. Restrictive, that described how this fake body felt. This gigai, added to still being injured, it further limited him, making him as weak as a human. Less than few minutes inside the gigai and he already decided he disliked it greatly.

"Woman," he said, calling Orihime's attention away from gawking at him with some mixed expression. Not only did this body make him feel as helpless as a human, _it made him look like one._ It felt odd to not feel the weight of his mask remnants on his head. His sense of sight felt… wrong… without slit pupils. Even seeing his hand, his nails no longer black, nearly made him uncomfortable. Pushing that discomfort aside for another time, he took the notebook off his lap, holding it out for Orihime to take. She held it. She didn't move. "Give it to Urahara," he ordered, voice flat, irritation kept in his mind alone.

After snapping out of her daze with an "oh!" she left him to go the opposite side of the room, the blond soul reaper watching the exchange with mild curiosity. Urahara had his attention trained on him since Orihime dragged him into the small shop for this ordeal. Earlier, the shopkeeper had failed to completely hold back his amusement at Ulquiorra's scowling as Orihime had to support his weight. His head had been spinning then, his legs deciding he had walked enough under his own power- the trip back to her home would unfortunately follow a similar pattern. Now Urahara only glanced away to accept the notebook from Orihime, and exchange a few parting words before she went to wait outside; Ulquiorra made it clear he didn't want the girl to know the complete details when it came to Aracelis. Sharing it with the soul reaper was bad enough.

The tense silence of the room lasted until Urahara put on another smile. "So, what's this about a subordinate needing a gigai? Orihime had been a little sparse on the details when she asked me about the possibility."

The cheerfulness of the soul reaper irked Ulquiorra, and he shifted his gaze away to hide a frown. He tried to shove away the last shred of dignity he had as a hollow, reminding himself that this was for Aracelis's benefit. When he heard Urahara flip open the notebook, most likely to the front page with the completed drawing mapping Aracelis's nervous system, he began. "Are you familiar with parasitic hollows?"

"Hmm, I see," the soul reaper muttered, eyes scanning the page. "A rare hollow variety; I've only studied one live subject, but that was quite some time ago. I have to say, this is rather intriguing. Parasitic hollows are typically weak. Was she Menos class when Aizen used the Hogyoku?"

Ulquiorra saw where Urahara's mind went, this the most probable explanation: a weak parasite attached to a weak host, her Arrancar form due to Aizen's intervention. Still, talking with him was an improvement upon trying to explain this to Orihime or Ichigo in even limited detail. "She was a Vasto Lorde." Immediately Urahara glanced up from the drawing, serious eyes peeking out from under his hat, waiting for more information on the oddities that were Aracelis and Mirro. "It has been with her since becoming a hollow. To my understanding, it had been attached to her when she was still human. They evolved in parallel, although Aracelis exceeded its growth substantially. She had been a natural Arrancar before Aizen's appearance in Hueco Mundo. Aizen had momentarily removed the parasite to make it an Arrancar as well. I suspect it had been an Adjucha at that point."

Urahara's eyes went back to the diagram with this new information. "It's invaded her nervous system. How much can it interfere with her actions?"

"I have spoken to it directly," Ulquiorra said with a hint of bitterness leaking into his voice, betraying his dislike for Mirro. Urahara's eyes paused again at his response before flipping to the next page in the notebook; this one focused on her right shoulder, neck, and brain. "She is able to communicate with it. While she is conscious, it is capable of affecting her balance and sight, as well as interfering with her regeneration. With enough motivation, it can take control of the right side of her body, then inflict enough pain or physical damage to eventually make her pass out. When she is unconscious, it has full reign over her, able to use even her sword release."

The soul reaper gave a slight nod before looking to Ulquiorra. "I take it you've tried to remove it yourself, but failed? It's too accustomed to her body with how long it has been with her. That leads me to ask: how has it not starved? One body couldn't sustain such a parasite for long, no matter if the host is a Vasto Lorde or not. An ability?"

Once more, a welcome change in speaking with someone intelligent. "She can absorb radiant energy."

"I see…" Urahara muttered before regaining a small smile of amusement. "When that hollow with the fake Hogyoku attacked Karakura, she had accompanied you, hadn't she? I _thought_ it was odd for an Espada to just suddenly appear from nowhere." Ulquiorra ignored him, not in the mood to discuss how he taunted the soul reaper with Aracelis's help. She had found it hilarious, grinning as she left him to finish the mission… "Back to the matter at hand, I'm curious to know why you're asking for my help."

"Carelessly tearing it from her body, it would be deadly at its current strength." Ulquiorra's attention went back to his hand as he flexed it once more. "This gigai is able to restrict spiritual pressure, so I thought to ask if it could be taken a step further to completely bar the release and absorption of all energy." He wanted to starve Mirro out, or weaken him until he could be torn from her with less damage. It came with its risks, obviously. Aracelis would be even weaker than he was currently, unable to use her spiritual pressure at all. She would grow hungry as well. Mirro would feed off of her as a last resort, but he believed she could withstand it until Mirro became weak enough to remove. With the lengthy time she spent in the human world after his disappearance, she had managed to survive, so hopefully now would be no different.

Urahara hummed as he understood his intention without laborious explanations.

"Should it not leave of its own will, I will tear it from her by force, Inoue healing any damage Aracelis is unable to fix herself." A slight modification to the original plan. This one, however, wasn't reliant of her learning her sword release. It could be placed into action quickly. He had explained this much to the woman; the foolish girl agreed without much thought. "I do not expect this for free," he added, knowing convincing the soul reaper might be more challenging. "In the very least, I could provide information pertaining to Hueco Mundo's features in a rough map." A cartographer in another life… Who knew how useful a skill drawing would become in the afterlife.

"And this subordinate of yours won't create too many problems here?" Urahara raised an eyebrow, brushing aside that he had essentially agreed already. Orihime must have told him something. "I am still not on the best terms with the Soul Society," he laughed, once more breaking his seriousness with a cheerful grin. "Helping a couple of Arrancar might do me in!" Ulquiorra tried very hard to let the comment pass, not missing Urahara's extra emphasis on the word 'couple.' Damn woman…

"She may make a theatrical entrance," he admitted. "Otherwise she has more interest in observing humans than killing them. She is quite familiar with this world; more so than I." Honestly, she would find his ineptness with technology hilarious. Orihime and her would tease him endlessly. He looked forward to it… How annoying this longing for her had become.

"Well, then, we have a deal! Especially since Orihime had asked so nicely earlier. It's almost like she expected you to be rude to me or something." Ulquiorra frowned slightly, the mocking tone irritating him almost as much as Orihime thinking him incapable of being civil during a serious matter. "Or it might just be my scientist's curiosity leading me astray again. I see you have a collection of notes here," he said, waving the notebook as he referenced it. "I'll read through it before I get to work on my next project."

"I ask you prepare it quickly. I cannot predict her arrival." Or if she would arrive at all… "I suspect she will target Kurosaki. If she arrives without hiding her presence, I will send her back into the garganta to reenter before having her directed here." He had already informed Orihime that she had to suggest getting a gigai. Mirro would be a fraction less suspicious if they acted like this gigai idea hadn't been Ulquiorra's. Although, this also meant he had to act relatively indifferent to her return to trick Mirro… But he was also confident she wouldn't listen to him telling her to leave. If anything, she would yell at him before calming down enough to see what was going on.

"Perhaps prepare something to briefly paralyze her," he added. Mirro would probably catch on before she did. As long as they got her into the shop before he realized the set-up and took control, it would work. If that meant knocking her out with some strange concoction or -although more unpleasant for them both- physically striking her, then so be it. She would understand the necessity.

It was once more an impatient waiting game to him.

* * *

 **I said the drawing thing would return and it has! Poor Ulquiorra had been trying to grieve in his own way when he came to Las Noches, hanging onto the memory of her. I feel like Nel would have picked up on that and tried to be friends with him, since he isn't a mindless beast like Nnoitra. I hope her appearance made sense; with her memories, but still in her child-like form, I feel like she might act a bit more mature than she had been with Ichigo, yet still overall very friendly. Also hope Urahara wasn't completely out of character because I honestly wasn't up to watching a bunch of episodes to find his speech pattern. Relying on my memory is always dangerous, but he doesn't have a big role in this story anyways, so… yeah.**

 **And it's that time again, unfortunately. Finals are looming, and I have a lot of writing assignments to get done in the next couple weeks. Didn't help I've been sick for a week and ignoring homework because of it. And, well, I've also been outlining ideas for my** _ **possible**_ **next mistake/story based in Hunter x Hunter (read a bunch of fics while sick, inspiration smacking me for it). So, yeah, update might not be in two weeks 'cause procrastination. I also like the next chapter and don't want to rush it…**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to HollowNeku, Wicho Poncho, LostWithinTheLyrics, Teyranas, and Evankey for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- Haha, yeah, I like understating things, and I underestimate how interesting things will be for readers since I've had the chapter in my head for so long. So happy you loved it! Mirro and Aracelis are still at odds, although Aracelis is getting a bit annoyed with her own moping. As for that Mirro smack-down ;) Ulquiorra's always got a plan, but he also doesn't know Clematis spilt many beans to Aracelis. And I'm really glad his return was successful! All the planning to connect him to the tree so it could help bring him back, I'm happy it was an interesting way to resurrect him. He's definitely grumpy about hanging out with humans… and lowering himself to asking a soul reaper for help. It's been fun typing that, since he's no one to overtly snap, but still gets annoyed all the same. I'm super excited too because I think you'll like the next chapter in particular! Thanks for the love!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- Ah, don't apologize for long reviews! I love them so much! I'm always pleased to cause them feels too. They both had their moments of despair the last chapters, that's for sure. I loved reading** _ **all**_ **your thoughts on Ulquiorra's struggle, because I seems like I must have gotten across what I wanted! Reached a fever pitch in wanting to deny having a 'human' heart while he became so close with Aracelis. His fight with Ichigo was as much about Aracelis's heart as it was him fearing/seeing he had gained one himself. Not only did he see Aracelis in Ichigo and Orihime, he was beginning to see himself, and it just made the poor boy snap. Ulquiorra's pretty much given up trying to understand it all at once, to just experience it with her because she's the most precious thing he has; she's finally his priority, and damned if isn't going to help her after messing up so bad. So many good point you had thought up! And I'm glad Clematis 'grew' on you, haha. She has her moments of being an okay person. Looping back around after all the character development, like you said! Thanks for the review, and I'm happy you're loving the story!**

 **030artastic- IRONY! I love my irony. Thank you for the compliment! Glad you're enjoying my writing.**


	45. Chapter 45- Natural Enemies

The ruins of Las Noches stretched over the horizon. The sight alone, even at a distance, set her on edge. Had she approached from the opposite direction, she surely would have broken down before turning away. The former battlefield strewn with crumbled towers, she never wished to see that place again.

" _If you don't want to be here, then why are we?"_ Mirro grumbled, his mood as sour as Aracelis's. _"Seeing that woman, what do you expect to achieve? Another friend? Ready to replace Ulquiorra so soon?"_

"Shut it," she whispered. She decided to go see Harribel, okay? It had been a while since Nel had informed her the former Third was even alive, and she didn't have much else to do anyway. Certainly, this trip was not out of loneliness- which would be a pathetic lie she'd tried to feed herself. "You get to eat now. You think you'd be grateful."

That had been their compromise. After what felt like weeks of lying in the sand at the lake's edge, refusing to hunt no matter Mirro's irritating prodding, they struck a deal. She could come to Las Noches to visit Harribel. Mirro could hunt the leftovers' hanging around Las Noches. Of course, now that they were nearing completion of her end of the bargain, the bastard decided it was time to complain.

Mirro scoffed at her response. _"Grateful to you, whore? Never."_ It turned out a starving Mirro had an even more awful personality than his usual self. On a scale, she would gauge his irritation now between her throwing herself at Ulquiorra and her sitting idle in the human world. Didn't hide his annoyance at all, either. Probably because he didn't have to pretend to be something other than a parasite leeching energy from a more powerful creature. _"You? Strong?"_ He scoffed again, her insulting him rubbing that final nerve that would soon lead to him screaming like a whiny-

"Hey, bitch!"

At the shout, Aracelis whipped around, eyes wide, panic shortening her breath. Immediately her face shifted to a deep-set scowl, teeth grinding together at the sight of the blue-haired Arrancar with jaw-like mask. _Grimmjow_. This bastard, of all the Espada, managed to survive. Damn cat gave her a wicked smile as he continued stalking towards her, hands in his pockets. Smug bastard. Her first interaction in a couple of weeks just _had_ to be Grimmjow. What luck… Between Mirro and the cat, her temper wouldn't be well restrained. She already wanted to tear Grimmjow apart for his stupid grin.

" _How did you not notice him!"_ Mirro screamed, obviously surprised himself. It was his fault. She'd been more focused on fighting with him than looking for ghosts. It almost shocked her that he didn't take the moment to say 'I told you! You should have killed him way back then!' Must mean he was nervous to be around the former Sixth without Ulquiorra protecting her. Served Mirro right. Still, she'd prefer to _not_ get killed by Grimmjow.

"You're still alive?" Grimmjow stopped a distance away, a hand then lazily resting on his sword as he continued to grin. He raised an eyebrow as he saw beyond her seething glare and infuriating face. "That Ulquiorra's shirt!?" The cat sent himself into a fit of laughter, pointing a shaking hand at her as he cackled away. She bit back a pointless denial. "Damn, I thought I'd get a bit of revenge and finish our fight, but you're looking so damn pathetic its making me laugh too much!"

While he continued his raucous laughing fit, Aracelis pressed her lips together to keep quiet, weighing her odds. No matter how much she wanted to kill the bastard right here and now, the odds of her accomplishing that neared zero. It's not like she could just run either. If the cat truly wanted to take his revenge, he would pursue her. She didn't want to play a dangerous game of chase the next few days as she tried to lose him. It'd be a lie to say she didn't feel a slight pang of hunger herself- although that might be Mirro trying to convince her; she never could tell. A distraction, then… If she had his attention elsewhere long enough that she could speed away and out of sight, she might avoid him following after her.

Grimmjow's laughter faded, his voice gaining an edge of impatience. "What? You're not even going to say anything?" He scowled when she kept quiet. "Too afraid to piss me off without Ulquiorra protecting your ass?" The smirk returned to his face when he noticed her narrow her eyes at the mention of Ulquiorra. "He deserved to die. Getting killed by a soul reaper, he was really weak. What a pathetic excuse of an Espada. Was he too busy protecting you that-"

A bala smashing into his just-raised arm cut him off. As he lowered his arm, she glared at him. "Say one more thing, cat, and I _swear_ I'll make you regret being alive." Her voice was low and cold, barely containing her rage. She could have handled all the insults in the world aimed at her, but not Ulquiorra.

He cackled at her response as he turned his forearm over to view the damage. A small burn was present, scraping away at the outer layer of his hierro. "How you going to that, bitch?" His toothy grin at finding what angered her, it made her hate him even more. "Last time we fought you were half-dead before that bastard saved you. He's dead now. You've got nothing."

" _Don't you dare,"_ Mirro hissed as she refused to back down like a good puppet. _"We are_ _ **not**_ _fighting him, idiot! There's no point! Who gives a shit if he insulted that bastard! He's dead!"_

Of all the things for Mirro to say, he said the absolute worst thing considering the situation. "Cat, I'm going to tear you apart," she said, raising her hand at the same time, blue glow quickly charging in front of her to mark the beginning of an unavoidable battle.

"That's more like it!" Grimmjow yelled over the blare of her cero firing.

He jumped out of the way, having had plenty of warning. She didn't give him the chance to move again. A bala from her left hand smashed into his leg as he failed to dodge the successive attack completely. He was underestimating her. Even if her bala could only leave superficial scratches, it was enough that she managed to hit him twice. A few hundred times more and it might actually feel satisfying.

When he spiked his spiritual pressure, he narrowed his eyes as she didn't flinch at it this time. Compared to standing in front of Segunda Etapa and that hollowfied human, Grimmjow was _nothing_. Instead of cowering in fear like he wanted, she absorbed radiant energy around her, gathering the offering for, hopefully, her own use- not gluttonous Mirro's. She would need it to fight him in what would be a drawn-out battle. No running now, not after he pissed her off so many times. One of them was dying today.

"This won't be like last time," she growled as she dodged a punch aimed for her face. As he moved to swing his other fist for her chin in an uppercut, she used sonido to jump backward. She landed in the sand a small distance away, calculating her next move for once. The second he got serious this fight would take a turn in his favor.

His brow twitched. "Then attack me with all you got instead of dancing around!"

Grimmjow raised his hand, palm crackling with red energy before the cero exploded forward in a destructive rush. As she leapt to the side, she was in a prime position to see his fist as it stuck her cheek with enough force to send her entire body flying. She rolled in the sand a few times, righting herself quickly, and then jumping back to her feet to dodge what would have been a kick to the stomach.

Her cheek stung for a few seconds as fractured bone healed. Mirro hadn't interrupted regeneration- for the moment. She could be a bit reckless, maybe…

The next bout of attacks began with him firing another cero into the ground, sand filling the air with a white cloud. Inside the sandstorm, she used a cero of her own, the blue light cutting through the dust straight into Grimmjow. He crossed his arms in front of himself, blocking the energy with ease. Aracelis used sonido to launch herself forward and behind him, her heel slamming into his lower back. After grunting at the impact- nothing more, his hierro still out-doing her attacks- he whipped around, fist looking to meet her cheek again.

A bala smashing into _his_ face made him stumble a step back. It gave Aracelis enough time to move away. From the chaotic flaring of his spiritual pressure and insane grin on his face, she figured she'd screwed up.

"You're better than last time," he laughed to himself before his eyes narrowed again. "But you're still not fighting at full strength! It's pissing me off!"

He rushed forward, fist slamming into her stomach hard enough the air was forced out of her lungs. She coughed helplessly as she skidded in the sand. A few ribs broke with that hit. As she pushed herself out of the sand, she coughed a final time, spitting up blood to stain the sand.

" _No, we're done. Try that, and I swear I'll take over!"_

His panic made her laugh quietly. The snapped ribs mended themselves, the damage Grimmjow's fist had done healing.

"Do it then," she whispered, a smile making its way onto her face. Silence. "Can't, can you?" Too hungry to take over her by force without risking it taking too long and Grimmjow ripping her open. "You sure you want that, cat?" She grinned when he gnashed his teeth together, her confidence getting on his nerves. "I'm not going to let you live this time. Like I said, I'll make you regret being alive by the time I'm finished dismembering you."

"I'm going to tear your throat out, bitch!"

" _Like hell I'll let-"_

Aracelis buried her sword deep into her shoulder. Grimmjow paused his next attack, confused by her action as much as her shaking, pain-filled laughter. The pain hadn't changed. Mirro made sure it hurt like hell; a few minutes of it and her vision would be swaying. She met Grimmjow's eyes as her delirious giggling tapered off. "You _really_ shouldn't have pissed me off, kitten."

His face scrunched at the nickname, a red cero leaving his hand as he screamed, "Don't screw with me!"

At the same time, she whispered just two words.

"Purge, Libélula."

Her spiritual pressure vanished with his cero. A fractional moment later the air erupted in a shockwave that forced the sand into the sky as it tore at the ground. Grimmjow fought to hold his stance, feet being pushed through the sand as he covered his widened eyes with his forearm. Her spiritual pressure crashed down over the area, tangible wisps of green forming around her as it escaped her body.

Aracelis started laughing again, the amount of energy coursing through her pushing her onto the edge of a battle high. She looked at her hands first, clawed fingers making her grin. Over her shoulders, the plating began, covering her torso, hips, and thighs. As a test, she searched for muscles she hadn't felt in decades. Four wings beat in unison, clearing away some of the dust she had kicked up during her release. A bladed tail whipped into view, pleasing her all the more. And the silence, the silence was fantastic! Mirro had been knocked out cold.

She couldn't wait to re-familiarize herself with her true form with Grimmjow as her test subject!

He looked up at her, wordless, stunned, but not scared. She guessed that he never considered how much power her resurrección would grant her, nor the abnormality that was her spiritual pressure. She could do more than just sense it. The dark green energy reaching the point of tangibility, it was Ulquiorra's from Segunda Etapa. Mixed with that visible sign of her ability was the countless energy signatures of past battles and encounters. Ichigo's from when she stood atop Las Noches, as well as Grimmjow's cero he had just gifted her, all of it was hers now. Mirro had been keeping it in reserve, perhaps. How much she would have had had she not been starving him for weeks…

"The distance between our power," she said, catching Grimmjow's attention, "its greater now than it was when we first met, kitten." She disappeared, reappearing next to him. As he turned, she saw the feral fear of an outmatched hollow flicker in his eyes. "You should fight a full strength if you plan on dying slower."

"I'll kill you," he screamed, fist flying through the empty space at his side.

His eyes snapped back to her as she tauntingly pretended to examine her claws in boredom, already hovering above the ground a distance away from him. He couldn't follow her. That alone made her blood rush faster. A little sonido in her resurrección, and he couldn't lay a hand on her! If when Ulquiorra had first seen her resurrección she matched his speed in his first release, she might have overtaken it now thanks to the spiritual pressure he allowed her to steal. And her wings made maneuvering at high speed _so_ much easier. Changing direction took just a flick of her wings.

"I'm serious, kitten," she warned when he stood his ground without moving to draw his sword. "I'd hate to kill you before I have any fun in this form." She tilted her head to the side when he cursed at her, raising his hand to send another cero at her. She didn't bother dodging. The look on his face as he snapped his mouth closed into a snarl made her lips twitch to smile. "Was that a cero, cat?"

The familiar phrase being repeated made him snap, hand going to the hilt of his sword. The metallic shriek of his blade leaving the sheath was drowned out by her asking, "Would you like to see a real one?" as she opened her palm. Almost instantly a cero shot into the ground behind him, over his head, her aim off. It made _her_ raise her eyebrows. She hadn't expected that much energy. It might have severely damaged him, especially if he hadn't ducked while attempting to disrupt the cero with one of his own. How fun. "See, that was neat, huh?" Maybe she should try that Gran Rey Cero thing too…

"Shut up," Grimmjow hissed, holding his sword in front of him in stubborn refusal to use his release within seconds of witnessing hers.

She narrowed her eyes despite finding the situation amusing now that she was the one in control. "Suit yourself, kitten." Despite the annoying sound, Clematis's warning about Mirro waking up after the initial release of her sword rang in her head. No way she would waste her opportunity at some fun before he came back, whining. Damn did she miss being this powerful, though.

Grimmjow was one unlucky bastard today!

* * *

The ground exploded once more as Desgarrón collided with an energy attack the woman neglected to name. The powerful blasts drowned in each other, tearing the ground asunder in a cyclone of sand. Had they been in Las Noches, had this been their first fight, the palace would have been reduced to a pile of rubble by now.

Grimmjow never expected her to be on par with any of the Espada, least of all him. Their first fight had been incredibly misleading. She was doing more than merely surviving. No, she was on the offensive, while he had been reduced to defending against her insane speed.

His tail twitched behind him as his eyes scanned for shadows in the sandstorm, or even slight shifts in the wind warning of her location. His ears pricked when he heard the damnable stroke of her wings.

He had been forced to use his resurrección. The fact he didn't _choose_ to added to his irritation. Without it, he would have been torn to pieces within a few seconds. Her speed… She had to be as fast as Ulquiorra in his release. Hell, she might have overtaken the former Seventh's speed, which was saying something, as that was all Zommari had going for him.

She appeared above him, her tail swinging downward like a whip- a _bladed_ whip that _could_ cut hierro. With a timed slash of his claws, he knocked it aside, legs propelling him the opposite direction as she spun into a kick. A beat of her wings and she shot upwards, hand opening with another cero ready. He pounced at her as he clawed the air in front of him, blades of energy slicing through her cero. She weaved between Desgarrón with ease. Then she disappeared, afterimage fading behind her.

Grimmjow reacted on instinct, leaning back as her claws breezed by his face. His nails tore into her arm, the limb falling to the ground as she retreated back into the air with a blur. Immediately she gained a replacement, prolonging the battle as all the damage he did to her regenerated near instantly.

He growled. That damn regeneration of hers… It only reminded him that he had forgone that advantage, leaving him in his present situation. Her damn claws and tail in her resurrección, they could make it through his hierro- although not as successfully as other hollows of her caliber may have. Every attack she landed would remain for the duration of the battle… Or longer. The main issue he had was he was _still_ recovering from the fight with Ichigo and the sneak attack Nnoitra'd given him. This bitch had her limbs torn off and healed in a second! It irked him. Difficult to tear apart someone that regrew limbs.

They returned to exchanging a fury of blows that didn't land, both blocking and dodging. Both of them wore crazed smiles at the thrill of a challenge.

Honestly, had he expected her to be a decent fight, he may have postponed this death match until he had recovered. Fighting Aracelis for hours, if not days, would have been the most fun he had since the soul reapers left Hueco Mundo. It's just, he hadn't exactly considered her a worthy opponent when he spotted her walking towards the ruins, alone but talking to herself. Their last fight had been so damn disappointing too.

She'd been pathetic. It wasn't the lack of spiritual pressure she had had; obviously, she must absorb energy, as he could pick out Ulquiorra's, Ichigo's, that freaking weird plant Número's (he'd spoken to her once, the following scuffle ending in her running to safety behind Gin before he could strangle her), _and_ his own. No, he didn't consider that Aracelis could go from useless, tripping over her own feet, to an Espada-level opponent with such a strange mixture of spiritual pressures. He should have. Aracelis had _Ulquiorra_ trained, and that bastard didn't listen to 'trash.'

"Getting tired, kitten?"

And, just like that, all of the fighter's respect she had earned during her silence, was instantly gone. Grimmjow snarled as he aimed an enraged kick for her head, missing. The follow up slash opened a hole in her side, though, the sight of blood pleasing him. "No one makes a fool out of me!" he snapped at her. This is what it came down to: no one insulted the king and lived. The grudge from decades ago remained, the sound of her voice enough to remind him of how much he absolutely hated this woman. Look on her face pissed him off too, but that damn condescending voice is what pushed him over the edge.

"Oh, still have enough energy to growl, do you? That silence hadn't been your brain seized with fear?" She hummed as she wiped the blood on her side away, revealing that the plating returned to pristine condition. "I didn't think you were capable of strategizing. Or thinking in general."

Another Desgarrón cut off her next taunt. He lunged for her, claws lashing out as she met him in the air. She caught his hand at the expense of her own. His fingers stabbed straight through her palm. With a smile, she closed her hand in a crushing grip, her other arm raising. Before she had the chance to use a point-blank cero to burn them both to a crisp, he kicked her in the side, wrenching her arm until he saw, and heard, her elbow pop from the socket. Her grip loosened. They both retreated a short distance.

 _She_ had no reason to retreat. He watched as her face went from grinning madly to something akin to absolute horror. Grimmjow paused, unsure what to think. A trick? He saw her right arm twitch as she glared at the limb, like it was something foreign to her.

Then her own nails dug into the skin of her throat.

Blood ran down her neck as she grabbed her right wrist with her left hand, appearing desperate to pull it away from herself. She froze in place, fully focused on pulling her hand from her neck like her life depended on it. Grimmjow continued to watch in utter confusion. This wasn't like earlier, when she had randomly stabbed her shoulder. She actually appeared to be struggling to control her own limbs. The way she gritted her teeth, the desperation in her eyes, Grimmjow hadn't seen that expression the entire time they fought. Hell, even the first time, when she had stared death in the face, she hadn't looked so utterly terrified.

The plating over her left shoulder crumbled away, replaced with a skull-like growth. Just as quickly, her hands dropped to her side. Her neck regenerated instantly when the nails carving it open were removed. Calm replaced the franticness.

"Damn girl," she cussed at herself, making Grimmjow raise an eyebrow. "Wasteful as ever." Her attention returned to him, eyes vacant. The skull, the glow in the sockets, those eyes appeared livelier than hers. Something about that combination, and her shift in tone, it creeped him out. Something was just not _right._ "This battle is over."

"What the hell are-"

"Shut up! Damn, I wish I would have killed you back then instead of letting her walk away," _it_ hissed. He might not have any idea what was going on, but the thing in control right now wasn't the bitchy woman that taunted him endlessly. The third-person speech also hinted that this was apparently not Aracelis. She wasn't _that_ kind of crazy. "This match would last days! Wasting so much time on something so stupid…"

It turned away from him, continuing to seethe as it walked away.

Grimmjow used sonido to move in front of his hijacked target. "I'm not done with her," he growled, not about to have his prey walk off for a second time. "I don't know what, or who, the hell you are, but I'm not letting you leave before I kill her!"

Instead of lashing out, physically or verbally, it did nothing. A sudden breeze and a fading afterimage sent Grimmjow into a fit of rage, his roar sending out a crushing wave of energy. He narrowed his eyes, immediately using pesquisa. He would not let them escape!

He sensed no trace of her. Aracelis's spiritual pressure disappeared along with her. Had she been holding back!? One second of sonido and the bitch was gone? Stubbornly, Grimmjow tore around the area, wanting to believe she couldn't have gotten that far so quickly. When he found nothing, he howled in frustration, anger burning through him stronger than ever. He didn't care that Aracelis hadn't been in control. All he cared about was that something interfered with their fight _again._ Ulquiorra was dead! This shouldn't be happening, damn it!

In the still air of Hueco Mundo, Grimmjow made a vow to tear her throat out and scatter her remains across the desert the next time he saw the damn woman. Nothing, absolutely nothing, would stop him from finishing their fight!

He'd kill everything standing in his way if it meant silencing the woman that taunted the king!

* * *

Mirro dragged them into a deserted room in one of the many dilapidated towers scattered about Las Noches. Immediately he slumped against a wall. Even though he had long since dispersed her release, using it only to flee from that bastard Grimmjow, he couldn't risk undoing his own. Not yet.

Damn that weed to hell! Telling Aracelis how to disable him and her sword command… Did the girl know how damn draining that form was!? All of that precious food he had so carefully saved in case they were injured somehow… or if she continued her stupid hunger strike…

Gone! All of it!

Using his resurrección to control her further diminished his reserves. _He_ felt exhausted. The timing of this battle couldn't have been worse. For weeks, he had been in a stalemate with her. He refused to take over and waste energy hunting for himself. Aracelis refused to eat. If only Las Noches was like it was under Aizen's control. Filled to the brim with powerful spiritual pressures to feed off at his leisure, Mirro had enjoyed the set up- aside from Ulquiorra and Clematis, clearly.

Now he was back to relying on her to keep her act together. That always went terribly.

Of course, given that he couldn't stay in his resurrección forever and wasted so much energy controlling her, he wouldn't be able to do much the next few hours. Allowing Aracelis free reign could end in two ways: she would lie around depressed, or she would go on a homicidal rampage.

He shifted, the burning pain still present even in his release. Cutting into him like that… it was almost equivalent to slicing into his spine. Painful as all hell, and not quick to heal while inside her body. Integrating his spiritual pressure and essential nervous system into hers prevented his own body from instantly regenerating. This was one other advantage to using her as a host. She could regenerate massive wounds with ease, including her shoulder, and, subsequently, him. He would still prefer not to give that up, honestly…

After a sharp breath, he closed his eyes. So tired… And hungry…

Damn did he hope she would be depressed by her surroundings until he had some rest. Then he'd use any anger she had to convince her to go hunt for him.

* * *

 **After many finals and projects, I finally had time to get this done! I didn't want to rush Grimmjow and Aracelis's fight; I quite enjoy their squabbling. And Aracelis finally got to use her resurrección! As a reminder, I do have a sketch on deviantart of her as a Vasto Lorde- which is nearly the same as her release.**

 **And, with that, after forty some chapters, we have caught back up to chapter 1! I don't plan on going back and changing ch1, and the next chapter will, perhaps, only have a slight summary of what happened before launching into the new form of chaos in the human world- the final arc, if you will.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you Suwako, deadlykiss1995, my Little Dreamer, Blood-Roses-Thorn, Meiseki Dreams, and ShayL92 for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- Haha, late review? No, I'd say it was perfectly on time considering this is a week later than usual. And, well, a review at any time is always much appreciated! I'm glad it's all coming back together; I do plan on Ulquiorra's POV, among other things. Had to sneak in the grumpy kitty cat, as who better than Grimmjow to upset Aracelis into using her resurrección than him? "Poor," hungry Mirro has no idea what he's done in dragging her into Las Noches. I'm glad Urahara's bit went well enough- he has one more small role to fulfil, after all. I thought maybe the researcher in him might let him be a bit more serious about the oddity that is Aracelis- and, as you put, a hollow in the home. Former enemies and all. Anyway, onward to gigais and nonsense in the human realm!**

 **guest- If you happen upon this, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. I'll finish it eventually, as it would be a shame to come so far and leave it unfinished.**


	46. Chapter 46- Cycles

Everything had been going so well, but, as was their luck, something unexpected had thrown a dangerous kink into his plans. That something, or rather _someone_ , was of course Aracelis herself.

Aracelis had arrived suddenly, her spiritual pressure flared with vengeance as she quickly located Ichigo in one of the town's parks. Within seconds of her entry, Ulquiorra had ran there as fast as the damn gigai would allow- he had been forced to promise the woman he wouldn't actually let Aracelis murder the boy. Orihime had been closer. By the time Ulquiorra had arrived, Aracelis had a cero ready to incinerate the two humans- which surprised him; she must have been in an awful mood to consider Orihime collateral damage to her revenge.

Keeping his face blank as he had grabbed her wrist, as she turned to look at him with such confusion, it had been incredibly difficult. He, for a second, feared she wouldn't believe it was him while he was in this unnervingly human body. Despite the extreme difficulty of it considering his state, he tried to increase his spiritual pressure just so she could confirm it was him. And then, ordering her to go back to Hueco Mundo that… The hurt expression that flashed on her face… It made a flicker of pain tighten his chest. No matter the necessity, he regretted acting so cold towards her. His irritation at himself quickly redirected to annoyance with Ichigo. He… he spoke more to that stupid human than Aracelis, making the situation needlessly worse. At least their acting hadn't been horrendous. Orihime managed to fulfill her role of suggesting Aracelis get a gigai and Ichigo acted clueless to what was going on.

But then Aracelis left.

He didn't expect that reaction. He thought she would just enter a Garganta and immediately return to the human world, her spiritual pressure than in-check, to berate him properly. Had… had he upset that much that she had given up on him? For someone that had repeatedly wished that to happen at one point, he truly feared he had found the limit to her patience.

"So that was Aracelis?" Ichigo said, interrupting Ulquiorra's train of thought. Orihime and Ichigo had since moved to stand near him. Ulquiorra had been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn't moved, his neck still craned as his eyes had yet to leave the sky where he'd last seen her. "Ordering me to turn into a soul reaper, it reminded me of our fights when you demanded I put on my mask," Ichigo continued, rubbing his jaw where she'd likely kicked him. The bruising on Ichigo's face pleased him more than it should have. "But the angry yelling made me think of Grimmjow…" Ichigo's voice trailed off when he noticed the glare Ulquiorra sent his way. "I really thought she'd been Ulquiorra at first," he defended in all seriousness.

Although the information had come from Orihime, Ulquiorra knew that Ichigo couldn't see spirits particularly well with the loss of his powers; still hearing them remained a slight miracle for the boy. Spirits, no matter their strength, had been reduced to mere outlines, though. Aracelis would, then, appear similar to him, he supposed. They were relatively the same height, both their mask remnants sat on the left half of their faces and had horn-like protrusions, and…

"I… I think she was wearing Ulquiorra's clothes." Orihime glanced away from Ichigo. The sympathetic look she aimed at Ulquiorra made him feel marginally worse about the situation. What Aracelis wore were the frayed remains of the shirt he had given her before fighting Ichigo. All of this time, and she hadn't changed…

"There… there were a lot of bloodstains, too," Orihime added, distress in her tone.

Aracelis's appearance had been rather _distressing_ , even if he had seen her covered in blood before. His former shirt had been in absolute tatters, the sleeves torn off, right shoulder covered in large brown-red stains- some of which appeared quite fresh. Not to mention that her pants were shredded to the knee with slashes in the thighs, her shoes completely gone, and she still wore her own torn shirt. Her skin was also caked in layers of white dust and dried blood.

He abruptly turned around, beginning to walk in the direction of Urahara's. This was not something he wished to be discussing or even thinking about. He also had things to prepare, as he hoped she would be back soon, that Mirro wouldn't figure out the entirety of the plan and prevent her from returning.

"Hey!" Ichigo yelled after him. "Where you off to already?"

He paused, irritated, only to briefly explain, "She will be back momentarily. I intend to assist Urahara."

The humans didn't say anything more, catching that his mood was less than amiable even for him. He heard Orihime tell Ichigo that she would fix his jaw, that she was sorry he had gotten hurt helping them. And that she was thankful, that Ulquiorra was too even if he didn't show it. In some miniscule way, he held some gratitude that the boy had acted as a live target for the wrath of a hollow he'd never met, but Ulquiorra would also never verbally admit his appreciation. Perhaps his limited sense of gratitude would _show_ more if Aracelis made it back. Even if she was alive for the moment, seeing him alive, Mirro might decide her usefulness had come to an abrupt end...

He picked up the pace, trying to focus on walking rather than what-ifs.

Damn his helplessness… He hated these waiting games when they always related to her survival and that parasite.

* * *

After reveling in self-pity _again_ , attempting to mentally sort through the mixture of emotions running through her head, Aracelis let out a delirious laugh. She wiped away the tears that had gathered during her reminiscence and anger and…

Forget naming emotions. They didn't really matter.

She smiled as she looked to the black sky and bright moon overhead. What mattered was Ulquiorra was alive. The entire world hadn't truly crashed down around her. If only she would have sought revenge on that stupid soul reaper kid sooner! Who knew Ulquiorra, with all his dislike of the human world, would be there? She was just terrible at finding him, apparently.

Slowly, she shuffled to her feet. Her head felt clearer after taking a moment alone. No tense humans watching, no blank stare of a supposed ghost boring into her, and no soul reapers possibly skulking in the shadows.

And, now that a thousand emotions weren't vying for immediate processing, she could recognize she had acted like a gigantic idiot. Ulquiorra and his damn poker face had tricked her. She trusted him. This wasn't some form of him rejecting her; he wanted her there with him. If she had to guess, he didn't think she would actually leave after discovering him alive- hell, she was questioning why she listened to him; she usually never did so well with orders. He had just wanted her to hide her spiritual pressure. That's it. If anything, he simply wanted her to duck into a Garganta to act like she, the big, scary Arrancar, had left the human world before the soul reapers got overly antsy. He could have chosen his words better, though. This wasn't just bluntness on his part… He said Hueco Mundo and not Garganta for a reason, like he was _trying_ to be cryptic. He knew she could be dense, especially in emotionally charged situations, so why word it like that? What did he have planned?

It would be infinitely easier to just ask him.

" _Are you serious!?"_ Mirro screeched, his voice interrupting her as she once more considered opening a Garganta. _"We are_ **not** _getting into one of those gigai things! It's some sort of trap! You saw him die!"_

"I'm going whether you like it or not," she mumbled passively.

Her hand shot to the hilt of her sword, drawing the blade in a flash.

" _No!"_

Her deathly grip on the hilt failed as she lost feeling in her right hand. The sword fell to the ground, tip buried in the sand next to her foot. She quickly reached for it with her left hand- damn the fact she was right handed and tended to draw her sword with it, because this was so inconvenient! Her fingers brushed the hilt again before her right hand caught and snapped her wrist in half.

"Will you stop that!?"

" _Shut up! You made me!"_

He attempted to drag her away from the blade by taking control of her leg. Also in that moment, with him trying to walk, she noticed the vice-grip on her broken wrist lighten. He didn't have full control. No wonder she'd managed to go to the human world without hearing his endless complaints. If she hadn't been in such a poor mood about being in Las Noches, she would have paid more attention to his suspicious silence. Did the fight yesterday drain him so badly he couldn't wrestle away complete dominion over her right side?

"I'm going back to see him!" She ripped her wrist from his hold, Mirro snarling in response. A bala smashed into her left knee. Everything felt shattered- a point-blank bala tends to that. "Wh-what the hell is wrong with you?" He broke her leg to distract her. To distract her! Mirro felt more scared of Ulquiorra being alive _and recovering_ than he had been of Grimmjow. She'd missed some important fact if this wasn't just another of Mirro's typical overreactions.

She felt her wrist recover enough to function, but her regeneration stopped at that. Her leg remained a burnt, shattered, useless limb. Mirro took the opportunity to switch from controlling her body to inflicting pain, splitting her head with a headache that made her vision dance. Through the flashing images, she dragged herself towards the glimmering blur of her sword. She felt him shifting control again and then…

Then the red glow of a foreign cero. Weak, but it caught them both off guard. Mirro's panic rose. Aracelis's hand wrapped around the hilt of her sword. Before he could focus back on her, she turned the blade on herself, the agony of slicing open her shoulder once more flaring.

She didn't care to find out where the miracle-of-a-cero had come from. After scrambling to her feet, Mirro's cries strangled as she rocked the blade back and forth desperately, she tore open a Garganta to begin traveling through the precipice while she still had the energy. Keeping the wound open and herself conscious to reach her goal kept her moving through the darkness as fast as she could with a shattered leg.

Once on the other side still light with the setting sun, she searched out the slightly familiar spiritual pressure of the Urahara guy. She managed one burst of sonido to reach the area before she plummeted to the ground. The landing was less than graceful given that her left leg refused to heal. Mirro, he must still be awake through sheer anger and fear alone. For good measure, she jostled her sword again, flinching at the pain.

The front of the small building was oddly deserted- the inside too, from what she sensed. After stumbling forward a few steps, the door opened. Whatever she imagined this Urahara guy, creator of the Hogyoku and supposed genius, to look like, she had been horribly wrong. He looked like a vagrant, his face scruffy and blond hair near frizzy under his ridiculous hat. And, just, that damn grin. Why did everyone she meet have to have that suspicious, all-knowing smirk? That said, his expression slipped for a brief second as he seemed to examine her.

"Aracelis, right? I've been expecting you for a while now," he said after regaining a cheerful smile. Expecting her for a while? The wording set her on edge. What made her more nervous was that she didn't sense Ulquiorra anywhere. Urahara stepped to the side, motioning for her to go into the building. "I've got your gigai ready," he added enthusiastically when she hesitated a moment too long. "You look like you've had a tough time getting here. So just come in, and I'll get you set up in your new body. Orihime is on her way here now."

Reluctantly, she walked forward haphazardly- damn broken leg. As she did, she messed with the blade still lodged in her shoulder, making sure the wound stayed open. She felt it sneakily trying to close as she stood idle. She also didn't trust the soul reaper, not after making it sound like he had this gigai prepared for a long time. The look he'd given her, too, didn't sit well with her. It hadn't been the state of her clothes, how filthy she must be, or the sword currently stabbed in her shoulder.

"You recognize me."

Before addressing the accusation, Urahara closed the door behind them. The silence in the small shop quickly faded as he chuckled, mainly to himself. He faced her with a smile. "I do, surprisingly. With the way Ulquiorra and Orihime spoke of you, I never expected you to the be _that_ hollow."

Aracelis shifted her weight. A soul reaper recognizing a hollow, that usually meant something very negative. Even then, this man acted cheery, like it'd been a funny happenstance. She didn't imagine Orihime would have much to say about her _not_ fueled by her tendency to see good in the strangest of places. Ulquiorra, though, probably wouldn't have lied. Left out details, certainly, but he wouldn't have said she was an angel of a hollow.

"A natural Arrancar in the human world; a rare sight as it is." Urahara brought out a fan, sweeping it in front of his face before distractingly fanning the air. "One that likes to dump hordes of Menos Grande there to pick off soul reapers, well, that's even rarer. I'd come across your description while doing a bit a research on the strength of Arrancar, you see."

"I'm over attacking weak soul reapers milling about the human world, if that means anything to you." She didn't expect him to trust her or anything. She'd just really hate if her antics in the past prevented her from getting this gigai and being near Ulquiorra. When Urahara kept silently playing with his fan, she opened her mouth to snap at him to move beyond holding a pointless conversation to the next step in this process, whatever it may be. She managed to say, "Wo-" before her eyes went wide, realizing she'd made a mistake.

" _Idiot!"_ Mirro screamed as he stirred. She'd forgotten to keep slicing into her shoulder; she paid too much attention to the irritating former soul reaper before her than a silent Mirro. His next words, she already knew what they'd be. It'd be her fight with Grimmjow all over again. _"Subjugate, Sangu-"_

Another shooting pain in her shoulder made her tear her eyes away from the soul reaper. Mirro's voice died as numbness quickly burned throughout her right side. Buried in her shoulder next to the sword was an uncomfortably thick needle, plunger pushed down as some unknown concoction was forced into her body. Her right leg gave out, her shattered left leg unable to hold her. She wanted to yell or curse, fear coursing through her, but her lips were as numb and useless as the rest of her body. Her vision began to gloss over.

"Aracelis," an unmistakable, calm voice whispered to her as her back fell against something. Hearing him speak her name was enough reassurance that she didn't fight the drowsiness accompanying the numbness any further. She trusted him.

Even if the muscles in her face refused, she inwardly smiled. Her final thought before passing out was, 'Ulquiorra, that masterful, adorable jerk of hers, he did have a secret plan.'

* * *

Ulquiorra slowly lowered her to the ground, kneeling behind her so she could slump against his chest. He pulled the needle out of her shoulder- it was a good thing she lacked a thick hierro or this simple method of delivery would have failed. Next, after awkwardly trying to situate her without dropping her completely, he managed to grab the blade of her sword to remove it from her shoulder. Undoubtedly, she had had to stab herself in order to return. Mirro likely felt suspicious the second he saw Ulquiorra alive and resisted any attempt she made to come back. He was amazed she could manage to stab herself, though, as she had to out speed Mirro's reaction time and overcome immense pain.

It had been convenient that Urahara had recognized her too. His reaction had put Aracelis on edge, her focus on the soul reaper alone- she had such a terrible habit of focusing only on seen enemies when they captured her interest. She might have noticed him, otherwise. This gigai, while it hid his spiritual pressure, was not nearly as stealthy as his hollow form. Sneaking up behind her without a distraction would have been risky. If she lashed out at him unknowingly, she could have dealt him severe damage or possibly killed him on accident.

Once he had the sword out of her shoulder, he set it aside. He didn't stand back up. There wasn't any need to right this second. Her body was completely limp and unresponsive, painfully broken leg and wounded shoulder slowly regenerating, but she had a look of peace on her face. Despite himself, he rubbed off some of the dirt caked to her cheek. He'd forgotten how warm she felt…

"I _am_ surprised," Urahara said, his tone nowhere near serious or irritated. "I really didn't expect this to be Aracelis. She'd been quite destructive from what I've read. Nothing like the well-behaved hollow Orihime and you described."

"I specified she would not attack humans." Ulquiorra had avoided sullying her name, as gaining this soul reaper's help had been too important to risk losing; especially over something as silly as past actions. "As she said, she no longer has interest in such attacks. In fact, most of her antics had been some strange attempt by her to entertain me." He never looked to the soul reaper for a reaction, talking to himself, truly. He kept his eyes on Aracelis. She was such a strange hollow, he thought with an amount of fondness. He wondered how many soul reapers she had actually killed to be considered a menace; he never did ask many questions about her activities other than 'why bother?'.

Urahara chuckled a few times. "Not that I don't appreciate the information on Hueco Mundo you've given me, but I still would really like to know more about you two. A _couple_ of highly evolved hollows, I wouldn't have believed it if Orihime hadn't tried so hard to convince me. That, and I wasn't seeing it for myself."

Ulquiorra fought frowning at this persistent badgering from the soul reaper. Still, he didn't throw Aracelis away to disprove the affection he had for her. Apparently, Urahara found it fascinating that hollows could feel something like this. Admittedly, Ulquiorra understood that it was an oddity, but he would not be explaining it in any form to the soul reaper. Ever.

"We should act before the paralytic wears off," Ulquiorra strongly suggested. They had tested the drug on him. Even in his weakened state, the effects diminished quickly. For now, it would be safest to get her into the gigai instead of making pointless conversation.

On cue, he heard the trapdoor to the training grounds below the shop open. Tessai and the two children had hidden there in case Aracelis or Mirro decided to go on a rampage. With the other man back to assist the soul reaper, Urahara had no excuse to delay. Ulquiorra prepared to stare him down if he continued chattering.

As if disappointed at his refusal to tell him the details of their relationship, Urahara sighed dramatically while snapping his fan closed before enthusiastically declaring, "It's time to get to work, then!"

* * *

The hollow made a horrifically enjoyable screech as it was sliced clean in half. It'd been such a useful thing, too. She just stepped in front of it to goad it a _tiny_ bit and voila! It had sent a cero towards poor, poor Aracelis as she so gallantly fought that dastardly Mirro.

"You were so-very-helpful!" she chirped happily, her voice the last thing the weaker creature heard as it died.

Clematis hummed a cheerful tune as she turned on her heel, on her merry way to gather some more useful pawns. Her little game of "follow Aracelis to see how she is" had come to a satisfying, intriguing end indeed.

She had been watching her. The moment Clematis felt that amazing spiritual pressure send a shockwave over the ruins of Las Noches, she couldn't help but rush towards it. All of the energy that the silly cat and Aracelis were flinging about, it made it so easy to locate them. And then, then Clematis simply followed- at a safe distance with her presence hidden, of course- Aracelis and Mirro to that ruined tower in Las Noches.

She had been oh-so-sad when Aracelis leapt through a Garganta, running off to somewhere unknown without her. But then Aracelis came back! Oh, she had made such a show with her tantrum. The dozen or so ceros made it very easy for Clematis to find her again. Dear girl must have said something to anger Mirro again, because she could see her struggling against the creature for control once more. She pitied her, obviously. Clematis found a darling little hollow to entice into firing a cero so she could remain hidden- Mirro and possibly Aracelis would have attacked her if she had stepped in herself.

Clematis's face split into a mad grin because she knew. She knew Aracelis had found something interesting in the human world. But where and what?

Having nothing else to do, she decided she would track Aracelis down. It wouldn't be impossibly difficult. The dear girl had a few particular places she enjoyed hanging around. No matter how dull the memories of Aracelis sitting around the human world were, Clematis bothered to file the information away- and she only bothered to remember boring bits of information like this if she _really_ liked someone; Aracelis should be flattered. There was also Karakura to investigate. Aracelis could be a vengeful sort, and that Ichigo, killer of her precious Ulquiorra, lived there.

"Now, now," she mumbled to herself, giving a wicked smile as she flung her arms out in a mess of billowing sleeves. "How many hollows do I need to check all these places? Oh, yes, I can just convince dear Ellzea to lend me some! Well, then, off I go!"

* * *

 **And we're back! I hope it makes sense, as I really didn't want to stick ch1 in its entirely here or make a huge summary of what had happened. If it's been a bit, I would suggest rereading ch1 just to connect Aracelis waking up to after her trip down memory lane. My favorite plant is back now too :) That miracle of a cero was not such a miracle after all. Another darling reunion chapter next time!**

 **Thank you to Silvers Ashe, Dragon'sMaw, kivirantapetra0, and Skylar1023 for following and favoriting!**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **The Shy Scorpio- I'm glad the fight scene went well; Aracelis needs to win sometimes, even if Mirro didn't really let her finish the battle. Mirro is just** _ **not**_ **having a good day at all with all the stuff Aracelis has been up to. Channeling anger definitely comes in part from we-are-hollows-act-like-one Mirro; they bicker while she tries to mope until she snaps. Grimmjow just never helps matters :) Clematis truly made her return now, so all the pieces are falling to place for the 'act 2' of the story to begin. I'm always so happy to hear you appreciate the story and writing! So thank you! I hope you'll enjoy it to very end.**


	47. Chapter 47- Together Again

Heavy. That was the only way Aracelis could describe what she felt through the grogginess of waking up. Even her eyelids were like leaded weights, refusing to budge for the past (probably just a few minutes) eternity. Having a mock human body, so far, felt awful. Whatever Ulquiorra had shot into her arm left her entire right side burning as it wore off, too.

The silence was nice, though. Maybe Mirro was gone… That would be lovely. She only wished she could have seen the bastard torn to bits if he truly had been killed.

If she didn't remember hearing Ulquiorra say her name as she passed out, she would have woken up with an even worse pounding in her chest… _Wait, did this stupid gigai have a beating heart?_ The first word that accompanied that thought happened to be "gross." Having emotions and having a physical heart were two very different things. The latter meant annoying physical reactions to everything from fear to sleepiness. It made her curious about other possible changes.

With a grand struggle against exhaustion and heavy eyelids, she finally pried her eyes open. After blinking half a dozen times at the too-bright light, the room came into focus. Still at the shop, she guessed, the wooden ceiling appearing the same as what she had seen falling over earlier. Even with extremely dulled senses, it was impossible to miss that someone sat next to her. She managed to roll onto her side. That _someone_ was _not_ Ulquiorra, she found out with much disappointment.

"You're awake? Do you feel okay?" Orihime leaned forward, her hair dangerously close to smacking Aracelis across the nose. She must have made a face because Orihime immediately straightened her back before continuing to fuss. "You can sleep longer, if you need. Ulquiorra took almost an hour to wake up when he got a gigai, and it's only been about thirty minutes since you were put in one, so if you need-"

"Hey," Aracelis interrupted. She would have continued if she wasn't just now noticing her mouth felt like cotton. Was… was she thirsty? Damn human body. Well, she would keep her question short before demanding water. "Where's he?"

"He's out. He insisted on going to get you some things before meeting us back at home." Orihime suddenly gained a determined look. "I really need to know if you feel okay after being injected with that stuff and being placed in a body." Quickly, she added, "Ulquiorra demanded I make sure you're all right before we leave Urahara's." to convince her to comply.

"Fine." Aracelis sighed when Orihime stared at her, expecting more of an answer than that. She was serious about her welfare, obviously. Of course, if she had been taking care of Ulquiorra, she probably had to deal with many terse, short answers that were nowhere near the truth. Ulquiorra _never_ said when something was bothering him until it spiraled into a serious problem. Part of his charm. "Thirsty."

"Oh!" The girl's eyes lit up in understanding as she clapped her hands together. "Um..." Orihime quickly stood, glancing behind her to a closed door. She slid it open, a red-haired boy tumbling into the room, dragging a dark-haired girl down with him in a noisy commotion. Eavesdroppers. Orihime didn't even appear fazed- must be some serial eavesdroppers, then. "Ururu, Jinta, can you show me where to get a glass of water?"

"Yeah, I guess," the boy grumbled like it was a bother.

Aracelis watched as Orihime followed the kid down a hallway. The girl hesitated a moment, starting at her, before seemingly growing embarrassed. She frantically ran off to join the other two. Aracelis wondered where the two had been when she'd first arrived. They had to have been nearby with Orihime claiming she had only been out for thirty minutes. She… she hoped she hadn't been so preoccupied with her suspicion of Urahara that she'd completely missed the two kids hiding nearby, or even in the shop. That would truly be a testament to how unobservant she could be.

Orihime returned soon enough, closing the door behind her to offer them a false semblance of privacy. Aracelis bet the kids were still there- she would be. Silly Orihime even helped her sit up without her first having to struggle. How easily Orihime had forgiven the fact she had tried to kill her a few hours ago. Orihime… she had suggested this gigai in the first place. She had to be in on Ulquiorra's plan, so she would be asking as soon as they were free of the two kids. She wondered where that soul reaper got off to, too. For all she knew, he might be eavesdropping as well. The gigai apparently prevented her from using pesquisa.

Despite the oddity that was downing an entire glass of water with actual need, she found relief in it. She _had_ been thirsty… This masquerading as a human had taken a turn towards an annoying reality. Aracelis thought she'd just have a sort-of-shell that limited her abilities, not that on top of taking care of a mortal body with mundane tasks she hadn't _had_ to do for centuries.

"I'm fine," she repeated. "A little stiff because this thing feels weird, but I'll get used to it, I suppose. My shoulder burns a bit, but that stuff is wearing off fast. I'm as fine as I can be given the situation. Where's home?" If that's where Ulquiorra was heading, then that's where she wanted to be. She wanted to complain to him directly about running off, among other things, before hugging that idiot because he was alive. "Your place?" Surely Ulquiorra wouldn't be staying with a soul reaper, and Orihime was too nice to say no.

Orihime nodded excitedly. "I like having guests! It's so much fun, especially now that you're here. Ulquiorra's been in a really grumpy mood. He won't even watch silly movies with me! He likes ice cream, though, but he doesn't like putting fun toppings on." She frowned like it went against everything she stood for. She was a lot more cheerful than she remembered. Not being trapped in the white hell of Las Noches, answering to Lord Prick, might explain the change. Another thing to ask later: how _did_ the war end?

"Silly movies and ice cream?" Aracelis tried to hold back a laugh as she considered Ulquiorra watching television let alone some frivolous comedy. An image of him eating anything flickered to mind and made her awkwardly press her lips together to keep a grin from forming. Ulquiorra acting as a human, Aracelis got the sense that that would be true comedy to her. "How long has he been here?" she asked, her cheerfulness dying away. "Ichigo said months, was he serious?"

"Yes. Ulquiorra's been a here a few months now. He's been staying with me so I can heal him." She began wringing her hands, her eyes anywhere but on Aracelis. "His injuries have been difficult to reverse. His spiritual pressure is just so… different. And now, even after somewhat getting used to that, his spiritual pressure isn't returning as fast as I think it should. I don't really know what's wrong."

Aracelis didn't know what to say, so she sat silently as Orihime trailed off.

Ulquiorra had been here, essentially alone, for months. He… He had to have been worried too, right? About whether she was alive or not. The last time he saw her, Mirro had been in the process of taking control of her. Her arm had nearly been detached from Clematis's mercy attack, leaving her covered in blood and a vision of death. Alone and worried… She knew that feeling well.

After a moment, she decided she wanted to leave the soul reaper's shop so she could ask more questions without the risk of oversharing. No matter how stiff and heavy her legs still felt, she forced herself to her feet, standing shakily as Orihime stared at her with concern. Aracelis's attention darted to the door the kids had been behind before returning to Orihime as she also stood, ready to help if Aracelis fell over. Then she noticed her clothes for the first time (and that the hole through her chest was, in fact, gone).

"What am I wearing?" she mumbled, looking at the tight tank top and loose pants- sweatpants, she thought they were called. Both black. The top obviously did not belong to Orihime; she doubted the girl would be able to breath in it considering her chest size. Actually, Aracelis mused, the top would fit her perfectly if she didn't have breasts. "Ulquiorra's?" she asked, tugging at the top. His shirts tended to fit her like this. She couldn't imagine him in it at all, though. Nor the pants. Then again, she'd only ever seen him in his Las Noches uniform.

"Yeah, I, um, didn't have any shirts that would fit you," Orihime admitted, fiddling with her fingers again. "And Ulquiorra doesn't have many clothes either, so he, um, gave you his pajamas. Oh!" Realization struck her, and her focus suddenly became the floor. Wrapped in the blanket Aracelis had woke up on and subsequently tangled up, Orihime retrieved a white sweater. "He left you this too in case you were cold," she said while proudly presenting her find.

"There's the white," she said to herself as she pulled it over her head- how strange, not having to avoid a horned mask. She preferred the dark clothing to this, though. Too much like Las Noches' dress code. "Wait…" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Does he own a lot of black clothing?"

"No, he seems to like white or light grey." Orihime smiled happily, like she already knew where Aracelis's mind had went.

"So, he specifically gave these to me… He must have been really bored to be considering something as silly as what colors I like." This made her both happy and sad. Obviously, it was nice that he noticed her preference at some point and took it into consideration. But, this also showed he had nothing better to do, that he had a long time to consider what she would want to wear, and that this plan had been in place a lot longer than she thought. He'd been waiting all this time for her to show up… "Let's go." She took a step forward before sighing. "I'd like to storm out to make you come with, but I don't know where 'out' is."

Orihime giggled a few times before walking towards the door opposite of the one Aracelis would have taken. "I know you're excited to see him again," she said as Aracelis obediently followed her, beginning to feel her legs enough to walk decently. If Orihime had had to carry her, things would have been difficult to say the least. Girl just looked so delicate when compared to her. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay before we left Urahara's. If something went wrong, Urahara might be the only one able to help, since I'm still not so good at fighting and Ulquiorra is, well…"

"He's that bad, huh?"

With a solemn nod, Orihime continued, "I know he acts like he's not injured, but he is- I can tell. He is very stubborn, like Ichigo, though, so if something happens he'll try to fight and get even more hurt. That's why I wanted Urahara nearby when you woke up. In case it wasn't really you, I guess? Oh, I tried to understand everything Ulquiorra and Urahara talked about, but it was so confusing when they talked about all these different nerves and muscles and what might happen and things."

Aracelis let the girl ramble on as they walked. From just that, she understood that Ulquiorra masterminded the plan with the help of Urahara and Orihime, even if the latter knew only limited details Ulquiorra neglected to explain to her. Not that Aracelis blamed Orihime. She didn't understand science talk either. When she asked Ulquiorra later, he would dumb it down for her. Sadly, it sounded like Mirro was still attached to her, even if she couldn't hear him. A marginal improvement, if she was one for positivity.

"Hello again," Urahara greeted as they walked outside. He stood by the door, as if he was waiting for them to make their exit. She still bet he had been eavesdropping. "The procedure went a little too well; I feel like I've been tricked somehow," he laughed, making Aracelis question if it had been a joke or an actual concern. "I'd say that parasite hadn't been half as powerful as Ulquiorra described."

"You're lucky the bastard was tired," Aracelis said, narrowing her eyes. Urahara knew more about her than he let on, she was sure. Mirro hadn't put up a fight because she had accidentally used all his food, and because of Ulquiorra's plan to paralyze her. Urahara's words somehow felt like an insult to one of them- and his carefree smile reminded her of a certain weed that grated on her nerves. "He had plans to rip you head off and fling your entrails about before eating you."

"I'm happy that didn't happen, then! Sounds like it would have been quite a mess," he chuckled, waving the stupid fan dismissively. "How's the gigai feel?"

"Human."

"Mister Urahara," Orihime piped in before the soul reaper had given a smart reply. She had appeared a bit frantic when Urahara had said 'parasite,' like it was meant to be a secret. "We think everything's fine, so we're going to go back now."

"Of course, Orihime. If you have any problems or concerns, don't hesitate to ask me. I'm always happy to help you." A smile lit up his face. "And you too, Aracelis. I can't tell you how interesting it is that two Vasto Lorde hollows have such a close relationship. I've never heard of any other cases. Would you mind sharing all the details?"

Before Aracelis could go beyond mortified sputtering, Orihime grabbed her wrist to physically try to drag her away from the blond soul reaper. He waved happily, saying "you're welcome" to Orihime has she shouted a "thank you" over her shoulder.

Aracelis took a block of silence to seethe. How much did the soul reaper know about them? Orihime told him. No way Ulquiorra did. But, then again, how upset could she be with the silly human girl? It's not like Urahara would have gone out of his way to help two Arrancar without Orihime nudging him towards that purpose somehow. She also had saved Ulquiorra from death itself.

"How," she began hesitantly, "did Ulquiorra end up here?"

"I'm not really sure, since he refuses to tell me. He fell out of the sky right outside my house! He… he had been hurt so badly." Aracelis glanced at her, seeing Orihime's eyes wide with fear at whatever image she recalled. "He was missing an arm and an eye and a lot of skin and his organs were all damaged. For a while, I didn't think… And he was unconscious for a long time… But thank goodness he woke up."

Aracelis nodded absentmindedly. He must have looked horrific, and he must have been in immense pain. She had no idea how he managed to go from ashes to a partially reconstructed body, but his amazing regeneration surely came into play somehow.

"Thank you for, uh, helping him," Aracelis said quickly, feeling like the girl deserved to hear it. Ulquiorra would never tell her, so, by default, it became her duty. "I mean, he wasn't exactly very nice to you. And, well, I guess I wasn't either, though. Why, then, _did_ you help us? I don't get it."

"Because you're not bad people," she replied simply. "I know it's sort of silly, but even when I first met you, I noticed that you weren't evil or anything like that. You, and Ulquiorra too, you're not just monsters. You're almost…"

"If you say human…" Aracelis rolled her eyes when Orihime sheepishly smiled at her.

"A lot my friends are pretty weird, and not necessarily human, but they all have a heart. They all feel things, like friendship and sadness. So, I helped save Ulquiorra because I know he's not a monster. Harribel too. If I can help someone, and I'm the only one that can, then I should. No one deserves to die, especially if they have a heart. I'm rambling again, aren't I?"

"You are, but I think I understand." A total lie. The girl was still overly nice given everything that happened. Ulquiorra had tried to kill Ichigo after manipulating her, and Orihime had managed to put that all aside. Aracelis knew she would never let go of the grudge she had. She could be polite and not kill Ichigo since Ulquiorra miraculously lived through disintegrating, but she was still angry about it.

The next stretch of silence wasn't as awkward as the first. Orihime did begin fidgeting as they neared her home- Aracelis could vaguely recognize the streets, now, having followed the girl around what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"So, this is where I live," Orihime said with a hint of nervousness as she opened the door. "But, I guess, you already know that. Did you look around before? I mean, it's not very big, but I could give you the grand tour."

"I remember well enough," Aracelis responded as she looked around for any changes. Nothing much, just that a convenient room divider blocked off part of the already small living room. A couch too. She didn't remember that being there, despite it not looking one hundred percent new. Orihime, living alone and so young, mustn't have a lot of money for new decorations. Quickly losing interest in furniture, she stepped forward to investigate what she guessed was Ulquiorra's living space.

"Wait, you need to take your shoes off!"

With the hilarious amount of desperation in her voice, Aracelis froze. It's not like this place had a sand problem, so she had just assumed to keep her borrowed shoes on. Although, the ill-fitting _shoes_ looked more like pink, once-fluffy-now-matted slippers; Orihime's, perhaps, as Aracelis didn't imagine them to be Ulquiorra's style or shoe size.

Aracelis shrugged, not making Orihime explain. Obviously, this was to keep the floors clean, right? Whatever. She took off the shoes, hoping one of the items Ulquiorra went out to get were decent, boring shoes. Humans tended to be concerned when people didn't were shoes, so, even if she preferred walking around without, she would play along to the laws of human conventions. To a degree.

With her shoes off, she immediately went back to her snooping mission. Orihime followed behind her, muttering something about being sorry that the place was messy. When she peeked around the divider, she nearly laughed. The meticulously made futon on the floor and the neat stack of books on a small dresser, this was most certainly where Ulquiorra stayed. Compared to the rest of the house, it was immaculately clean and tidy. Must give poor Orihime a complex, living with mister 'nothing can be a millimeter out of place or it will bother me.' How Ulquiorra put up with Aracelis, she would never know.

"Are you hungry?" Orihime asked like a good host, trailing after Aracelis as she went to flop on the couch- she had learned not to snoop _through_ his things.

Aracelis gave some thought before answering. Being thirsty had been unfamiliar, but hunger? Well, call her an expert on that. "Nope." A forcibly silenced Mirro couldn't whine about food. How pleasant.

Another lull in conversation ended with the opening of the front door. Both Orihime's and Aracelis's attention whipped to it, Ulquiorra pausing as he looked between the two women. In true Ulquiorra fashion, he said nothing, returning to setting a bag to the side as he took off his shoes. Aracelis watched, her tongue suddenly deciding to feel a thousand times clumsier and more incapable of speech than usual. Instead, she patiently waited for him to turn his attention back on them, all while somewhat transfixed by his appearance.

Earlier, she hadn't noticed much beyond that he stood in front of her, alive, and without a mask. Now, she saw that he still looked incredibly pale, but there was some color to him as stark white flesh in humans was reserved for the dead. His face seemed different too. The markings, she sort of missed them since their color went so well with his eyes, and had been a constant feature on his face until this point. When he moved to stand closer, he glanced at Aracelis with an unreadable expression. Now that she actually looked, he didn't have slit pupils anymore, either. Strange… She wondered if Ulquiorra felt the same looking at her, even if the changes on her face weren't nearly as drastic. The clothes he had on, though, she liked those. A simple white button-up, dress-y shirt and straight legged, mid-tone grey pants she had no name for, he looked like a nerd. If he had his shirt tucked in and glasses, she would have laughed at him for the stereotypical style she'd seen on TV during her last stay in the human world. Not that he didn't look good.

"So, um," Orihime muttered as she shifted her gaze nervously, breaking the silence first, unable to bear the awkward stare-down between them. "I think I'm going to go study in my room, so… Oh! Um, Aracelis, where are you sleeping? I can get you a few pillows and a blanket to sleep on the couch or-"

"I'm sleeping with Ulquiorra," she said, confused tone ending the statement like a question. Then she saw Orihime's face get a bit red, and, well, she realized the girl had a dirtier mind than she thought- the girl _was_ a teenager, she believed. Embarrassed with her unintended sort-of-innuendo, she glanced to Ulquiorra to see if he had an actual opinion. She tilted her head to the side when she saw him starting at her questioningly, like he'd been utterly shocked.

"You would still sleep beside me?" he asked, doubt almost overtaking his usually flat tone. His reaction of acting like she had just said the most ridiculous thing in the world made her all the more confused. Did he think she was _that_ upset with him? He had done a lot worse before than order her to do something.

"Yeah, I'll use any excuse I can to hang off of you for a few hours." She wanted him nearby, and, if these human bodies needed sleep, she could cuddle up to him for hours. That was an opportunity she wouldn't be letting slip away if he was comfortable with it. The truth made his eyes soften a bit, like he was relieved to hear she wanted to be close to him. They… they needed to talk. She had no idea what was going on in that thick skull of his. Obviously, she remembered what she had last said to him… He'd had ample time to mull over her words by now. She'd rather not have that conversation this moment, though, as a lot of other stuff happened in the span of a day.

"Well, with that decided, I'll, uh, be off to my room." Orihime looked between the two one final time, before turning to scurry away from the tension in the room. "If you need something, just ask," she added from around the corner before disappearing again. Rather quickly, music of some sort could be heard coming from down the hall. Such a considerate host. She saw they needed privacy _now_.

During the silence, Aracelis got off the couch so she could stand in front of Ulquiorra. She stayed over an arm's length away, unsure. Neither of them seemed to know where to begin. Aracelis decided she'd start rambling, if only to lighten the mood, and maybe, just maybe, find something they could discuss without all her pent-up emotions tumbling out like trash from of a ripped bag.

"I'm mad at you, but also really happy to see you. I don't know which I want to deal with first."

"I am in a similar position," he said, breaking his intense stare to add, "although I am more… upset… with myself than you." He looked back to her. "You may yell at me, if it suits you."

And it did suit her. "Why did you act like that earlier? Ordering me to go back to Hueco Mundo after I just found out you're alive, I…" She closed the distance between them, her raised voice already fading. "I missed you so damn much! I saw you _die_ and… And then, then you acted like you didn't even care to see me!" She looked to the ground, shuffling her feet. "I know it was part of some plan to help me, but, I just… It hurt," she whispered, timidly reaching forward to brush her fingers over his hand. He didn't flinch away, so she very lightly held his hand. Still cold, even in a gigai… "It's fine. I understand, but…"

"You are forgiving me much too easily again, Aracelis."

She sighed, lips twitching into a half-smile. "No, I don't think so." She took a step forward, letting go of his hand so she could wrap her arms around him. "I did the same thing to you, really," she mumbled into the crook of his neck. He turned his head, the side of his face blatantly resting against hers. "It's really shocking seeing someone you thought was dead and then having them play it off as if nothing at all happened. I'd say we're even. We can stop almost dying now, right?"

"That would be preferable as…" He hesitated, thinking for a moment. "As I have missed you as well." If he hadn't apprehensively placed a hand on her back, she would have stepped back to look at him. Then he gently held her closer to him, his other hand resting between her shoulder blades. A returned embrace, she nearly gasped in shock and started bawling ugly, dramatic tears. "I regret that our reunion went such a way, no matter if it was necessary. Do not mistake the fact that I am… happy… to have you here."

"Ulquiorra," she mumbled, not sure whether to cry or laugh. The amount of sincerity in his words, and that he, for the first damn time ever, returned a hug made her want to cry in happiness- and _that,_ that was just weird. She also wanted to laugh because every time he labeled an emotion he paused to consider what to call it, and then tried to avoid saying it with complete distaste as he honestly meant it. If he wasn't doing that, this wouldn't be her emotionally inept Ulquiorra at all.

They didn't move for a few moments. Aracelis wanted to fall asleep standing up just to keep him holding her longer, but decided they had some other business to attend to before she passed out on him. He probably wasn't fully comfortable with such affectionate displays yet, either. This moment was an exception, an apology, a time to comfort each other after such a separation.

"That's enough emotional stuff for now, huh?" She reluctantly let her arms fall to her side. Just as quickly Ulquiorra released his hold on her, taking a small step back to regain a comfortable speaking distance. Instead of doing the same, she caught his hand again, not ready to give it up- she had been serious about hanging off him. She didn't want this to end up being some sleep-deprived, post-battle-trauma induced hallucination. Holding onto his icy hand made it at least seem real. "You know I still like questions even more than emotions." She wanted to smack herself now, seeing that she kept trying to make lame jokes to lighten the awkwardness between them.

"I suspected you would ask questions," he stated. "It is your nature to make endless inquires."

She gave a subdued smile at what she guessed had been his poor attempt at humor. They could be awkward together at least. "Well, just start from the last time we saw each other. I have a huge gap of missing information from then to when you came crashing down in front of Orihime." She paused, shifting her weight. "I'm just… I'm amazed that you survived turning to… to dust."

"The tree," he said, like it explained everything in the world. It didn't make sense, either, since it had been in a state of advanced decay when she'd last seen it. He continued when he noticed she needed more information. "It had attempted to recall me as my body had reached its limit during the battle with Kurosaki. When I regained consciousness, the tree was in the process of crumbling, unable to provide further regeneration considering the sheer magnitude of my injuries. Had you not approached it and then left when you did, I would have likely died while unconscious."

"I found you…? You sensed me there?" She would have killed him with her spiritual pressure or ability if she hadn't left? While he said it to be true, she struggled to believe she would ever be capable of crushing him with her spiritual pressure. But, she had also woken him up by being nearby, saving him if she took his mentioning it as making the fact important. He had been even more horrendously injured than she ever considered if he could have died in his sleep. "And then you came here because…"

He nodded his head slightly, blinking once. "Inoue was my only option. When my spiritual pressure began to return, I had to enter a gigai to continue to recover without drawing the Soul Society's attention." He may as well have admitted to being unable to fight like usual without risking further injury. His eyes from 'gigai' to 'recover' had narrowed slightly in annoyance. Relying on a human wounded his pride- it bothered her too, on hollow principle, but she found it easier to overlook than he did. "The tree is presumably attempting to reform. Until it does, I will not be at full strength." Or, as was Orihime's concern, he wouldn't recover as fast as she thought a hollow with two release forms should.

"Oh," came her dumb response. He said he drew power from the tree, so she understood it would take a while for him to regain his former prowess. "Can't Orihime go… Never mind." No way he would take her to the tree to try to fix it. He should, since she was relatively harmless and could likely solve the problem. "You had, _have_ a plan regarding me, too, right? I didn't figure it all out yet, so…"

"I assumed you would eventually seek revenge on Kurosaki."

Even if it interrupted him after he so willingly began, she gave a single, embarrassed laugh. "You based everything on me being stupid. And were correct." He thought she would do something reckless and emotional much sooner, she supposed. The gigai had been completely done. Ichigo hadn't seemed too shocked to receive a kick in the face. Orihime knew she needed to suggest a gigai because Mirro would find her the least suspicious. Everything had been in place already. "I guess I don't need the entire plan spelled out to me in detail, either. Once I got back to Hueco Mundo, I recognized that you'd been acting disinterested for a reason. One that went beyond calling soul reapers to us." She shifted, glancing at her shoulder briefly. She forgot she was still wearing a long-sleeve sweater; the lack of itching paired with the silence… "What is this gigai doing? I haven't heard Mirro at all."

The way his grip on her hand tightened made her look away from her shoulder. He stared at her like she had slapped him or something.

Then it struck her why. He didn't know that she knew Mirro's name. "Clematis." The one-word explanation made his expression go blank. "She also told me that he is a parasite. And that stabbing my shoulder knocks him out for a while, if I can manage to stay awake. Hurts like hell to keep the wound open, though." A grin suddenly spread across her face. "I used my resurrección yesterday!"

The look he gave was priceless. So confused and shocked and maybe a bit impressed.

"Clematis," she explained again. "In case I somehow forget it again, it's Purge, Libélula. Using it must have weakened Mirro a lot, too, since I managed to get back here despite him already being suspicious of your intentions." She would keep the whole starvation thing before that to herself. "I don't know if it will help, because I only have the length of time it takes him to say it to react, but I know his sword command too. _Subjugate, Sanguijuela._ He said it while I was fighting Grimmjow."

He kept staring at her, eyes a bit wider than usual. Aracelis found his perplexed expression adorable.

"Also yesterday. I ran into the cat on the way to Las Noches to visit Harribel. I was winning for once, so I was really pissed when Mirro took over. Although, since he had dumped me in one of the towers, I decided I felt like slaughtering Ichigo today. Mirro was still exhausted and couldn't stop me from coming here to find you." She smiled, feeling ridiculously proud of herself considering it'd been a series of random events that lead to their reunion. "I didn't mean to interrupt, but I got excited."

"Your progress has far exceeded my expectations," he admitted. "The gigai will not allow you to absorb energy, thus not allowing Mirro to feed. I planned to weaken him before attempting to remove him to minimize the damage done to you; however, given what you have told me, this will be sooner than I anticipated."

"Won't that weaken me, too?" She tilted her head to the side, wondering if Ulquiorra knew something she didn't. "He does feed off me when he's desperate enough."

"The gigai will prevent him from escaping if he should manage to overpower you." His words were a threatening promise to Mirro. If he somehow killed her by draining energy away, there would be no escaping Ulquiorra's wrath. Ulquiorra could likely fight back should the need arise, whether that meant in or out of the gigai, she didn't know. One thing, though, he probably made sure she couldn't do the same; she was as good as human in this thing to weaken Mirro. "I also believe you are powerful enough to handle the strain of prolonged starvation," he added, eyes softening a bit. "You have already shortened the time necessary by achieving your resurrección. That creature has always been inferior to you; he will weaken more quickly as a result. It will minimize the risk."

Comforting words _and_ praise. Meticulous Ulquiorra still thought his plans had worrying holes in it, and felt guilty about taking a potentially deadly risk- she guessed, feeling for once it was an accurate assessment of his thoughts. "I trust you, Ulquiorra. I would have never known so much or had any idea how to remove him without your help. I know this is our best option. If it wasn't, you would have never set it in motion. You wouldn't put my life in unnecessary danger."

"Shall I tell you your trust is misplaced?" He sounded defeated, already knowing she would refute that claim. Still, he did not feel like he deserved her trust such that he would point it out once more.

At this, she stole her hand away from his light hold. As her palm rested on his cheek, he raised his hand to rest it over hers, pressing it to his face. "No," she said firmly, frowning. "If there's one person I'd want to decide my fate, it's you. You've kept me alive to this point without my collaboration. Now that I know all this stuff and you aren't keeping so many secrets, I can trust you completely. That's not changing no matter if you think you deserve it or not- and you do deserve it." Somehow, her jumble of nonsense seemed to calm him down. Actually, he appeared rather amused with her response. He knew better than fight her when her conviction was so adamant.

"You are as ridiculous as ever."

"You too."

She let her hand slip off his face, another silence developing between them, albeit a comfortable one. The lull made her feel the tiredness again. Being shoved into a hyper-restrictive fake body after fighting with a former Espada using her resurrección for the first time, the sleepiness decided to uppercut her jaw the second she relaxed.

Ulquiorra's brows pushed together ever-so slightly as she failed to fight back a yawn. When he titled her face so her attention went from the side to his face, she gave a crooked smile. "You appear exhausted." An observation. "Let us retire for the night." And a firm _suggestion_. He showed concern in such an Ulquiorra way.

She nodded, letting him lead her around to complete mundane, bedtime-routine tasks like a couple of humans. If Orihime had been asleep, Aracelis certainly woke her up with poorly hidden laughter. Something about watching Ulquiorra brush his teeth she found hilarious- which was weird, as he blandly pointed out, they had the nicety of toothbrushes in Las Noches even if she'd never seen him use one. It didn't help that he'd handed her the most obnoxious, florescent green brush that he'd fetched for her earlier- the cheapest one, he explained when she asked. Another prize from his shopping trip: a second pair of shoes, this time not gaudy, old slippers, but the plainest slip-ons on Earth.

When they made it through the revolting process that is being human, the next challenge became sleepwear.

"So," she said, pulling at the hem of the tank top she had on after ditching the sweater, "you need this back now or later?"

"You will be wearing those until we obtain you more suitable clothing," he answered, pulling out a pale grey long-sleeve shirt from the small dresser. When she glanced in, she saw the single drawer contained what were likely all his clothes. He closed it without taking anything else out.

"Shopping trip?" He glanced over his shoulder in time to see the hopeful and mischievous look on her face. His answer consisted of him averting his attention and setting to work unbuttoning his shirt. "You mean I can't wear your stuff forever?" she asked in mock disappointment as he slipped on his other shirt. The second he looked at her again, she grabbed the waistband of the _underwear_ she had woke up in. "These yours too?"

"Yes, Aracelis." He nearly said it with a sigh. "If you are concerned who dressed you while you were unconscious, know that it was me."

That made her flush a bit, as she didn't even consider who had played dress-up with her earlier. She let the topic of his under garments drop. She still felt concerned, though, because she didn't want to play human to the degree of wearing all the 'proper' clothing. One layer of clothes was fine, why all the extras?

"Orihime's going with us, isn't she?"

"She gave the impression that I would not understand women's clothing sizes," he answered like he'd begrudgingly accepted it as the truth. He moved, about to sit down on the ground before tossing the covers over himself, only for her to catch his wrist. With much patience, he silently waited for her to explain.

"You're seriously not going to wear those to bed, right?" He had never changed out of the pants he had on earlier; the fabric looked sort of stiff and uncomfortable to be sleeping in. His blank stare was all she needed. "You can have these," she said, already pulling off his sweatpants. She had underwear, so her modesty was still intact, so no problems there. "I'll be too warm with them anyway." She all but shoved them into his face.

Even as sleepy as she was, she didn't miss his expression softening at her insistence. Despite them both being glorified moochers, she felt almost rude taking his things, making him uncomfortable when she'd be fine without. He understood that more quickly than she had.

Once they finally had the sharing-clothing-problem momentarily solved, they both lied down on the small futon most definitely made for one person. Ulquiorra laid on his back, as he preferred, with Aracelis clinging to his side, her arm flung across him and her head resting on the side of chest. Immediately she felt calm, drunk on the nostalgia of the few times they had done this in Las Noches. She had the bonus of a human body too. After a minute of quietly lying, she felt his breathing slow, heard the fake heartbeat calm with him. Content. He must feel content, she decided happily. She did too. So much so she was beginning to think that maybe Grimmjow had killed her and this was a spectacular delusion she'd wake up from in a few fleeting moments.

"Ulquiorra," she whispered, eyes already feeling heavy. The fact he played with her hair made her relax even more. His quiet 'yes' made her hesitant. "Never mind." Her words were near unintelligible through her mumbling. Dealing with what she said in Las Noches, that could wait. Right now, this was fine. She didn't fully believe this to be reality anyway.

* * *

 **Dialogue. So much. Trying something different for the 'human world,' as in lighthearted and some poor humor to oppose the angst that was the last block of chapters. A lot less stress playing human than being an Arrancar in a war while figuring out the whole 'emotion' deal. Anyway…**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to LittleYami, kivirantapetra0, oliviardriguez, RH96, cherryinthebowl, and The Shy Scorpio :) for following and/or favoriting!**

 **Guest- Aw, thank you! I'm glad you love the story and my style!**

 **ToughLuck- Yeah… It would have been nice to make Ulquiorra sweat it out, huh? I might have rushed it a bit in my excitement to reach this point in the story and make it not a billion chapters. But, like you said, they're one step closer! And Clematis is never a good Clematis :) Thanks for reviewing and reading!**

 **Meiseki Dreams- Yes, Mirro is finally being addressed! Thanks for reviewing, happy to see you enjoying the story!**

 **haipa-chan- Of course the little weed has cropped up again :) It's her thing. I'm actually really happy how it all came together, since it wasn't all planned in detail when I started, haha. I'm glad you enjoyed it too! Aracelis definitely needed a moment to be badass; the damsel in distress bit was getting a bit stale… I hope there were enough feels this chapter! Both were avoiding big issues, though. I'll definitely have some Ulquiorra POV next chapter since this was all Aracelis. As always, thank you for the review, and I'm happy to see you're still loving it!**


	48. Chapter 48- Routine

Ulquiorra had woken up an hour before the sun rose. As he had become accustomed to, he had jolted awake with a flinch. No matter how many times he had slept since getting the gigai, it was still the most unnatural thing in the world to him. His body and mind consistently thought he'd died. Unlike usual, when he once more realized how ridiculous the action was, he felt a weight on his chest. When he had glanced down, he caught Aracelis pulling herself closer in protest to his moving, her grumbling in her sleep at him. It was such an odd thing to take relief in, her unintelligible complaining.

Even if he felt wide awake, he didn't disturb her any more than necessary. He only repositioned his arm so the feeling could come back- human body apparently went numb under the weight of her head as they slept. Having the silence of the morning and being without as much Aracelis-induced stress, he laid in peaceful thought for once. Content was still such a strange feeling.

Despite the minor change in plans, she had made it back to him in more-or-less one piece. The fact she knew her resurrección amazed him even more than her staying conscious while stabbing through her shoulder and fighting Mirro's attempts at control. He… He admittedly thought that that route was a lost cause. He didn't believe she would ever be able to use her sword release. With the regenerative abilities of her resurrección, they might not even need the woman's help when it came time to remove the creature. Additionally, he could freely discuss Mirro with her now. He no longer needed to hide his concerns about the parasite behind pathetic excuses. She would be far less anxious now that he could explain things more than "It may kill you to know."

He heard the distant sound of the woman's alarm clock. Confirming their plans before the girl left would be best. Undoubtedly, he could escape from under Aracelis without waking her, but he guessed she would be upset if she later woke up without him nearby. She could rest more later; he had an errand to run before the grueling shopping excursion, though.

"Aracelis," he said, shifting so she began to slide off his chest. She whined, fingers latching onto his shirt so she stubbornly stayed in place. "Aracelis," he repeated firmly despite being amused with her, knowing she was now awake enough to respond.

"I don't want to get up yet," she mumbled groggily, words jumbled and slurred. Her hold remained tight, but he sat up regardless. After a moment of lying in an awkward position, she gave in, huffing "Fine." as she released him to sit up herself. She rubbed her eyes, blinking a few times as she fought a yawn.

He stood, grabbing her hand to pull her to her feet when she reached out for him and stared expectantly. "Do you wish to eat?" Annoyingly, his body felt it was time for light meal. He wondered how these humans got anything done with their needy bodies requiring constant care. Before she answered, he dragged her behind him a few steps seeing as he already had her hand in his. Time became a factor as well. He would try to spare her the woman 'cooking' breakfast for them- bean paste did not belong on or in everything; even he recognized that.

Aracelis followed behind him, muddled brain not much caring where he took her in the small apartment. In fact, judging by her snickering, she had found something to amuse herself with. "Your hair's a mess," she helpfully pointed out as she took a chair at the modest table. He paused rummaging around as he combed through his hair- he hated the woman witnessing him looking anything but refined and intimidating, especially after being nearly dead on her floor for a few weeks; his pride did not appreciate how pathetic he must have seemed.

"As is yours," he commented in turn. Immediately she tried to regain some semblance of order herself. Once he found something suitable- fruit yogurt, in this case-, he joined her.

For a few minutes, they were able to eat in relative silence; Aracelis insisted on asking him what his favorite foods were so she could try them too. He answered fruit, forgoing that he quite enjoyed all sweet things- just like _that_ human, the one he refused to fully accept as himself. She had tried to stifle her laughter, failed, and then felt the need to explain herself. "Fruit bat," had been her reply in short. She found amusement in the simplest of things. Her mood was genuinely cheerful at least. He found himself grateful for that.

Eventually, Orihime joined them in the kitchen, pouting that her guests didn't allow her to make them breakfast. Ulquiorra tried to ignore whatever concoction the woman made herself, and Aracelis was more interested in her own food than Orihime. Before the woman joined them, he left the table; there were three, mismatched chairs, but then the table would scarcely have enough room to allow for personal space. Aracelis watched his every move like she already knew he would be leaving for a short time. He hoped what he planned to give her would bribe her into less complaining…

"I'm so excited!" Orihime chirped happily, drawing Aracelis's attention away from Ulquiorra as he finished his meal on the other side of the room. "We get to go shopping later!" She remembered, but sounded concerningly excited. "I'll take you to this really great discount store at the mall! It's not really that close, so I don't get to go a lot, but its filled with all sorts of other places too! We can find a whole bunch of cute things for you to wear for really good prices! You'll let me help you pick things out, right?"

At her disconcerting eagerness, Aracelis tilted her head to the side, unconvincingly replying, "Sure?" When Aracelis glanced to him for help, he blinked slowly, showing her she had sealed her already unavoidable fate.

The woman looked giddy with even the hesitant response, almost bouncing in her seat. Apparently, she hadn't appreciated that Ulquiorra had wandered off when the woman had taken him on an awkward shopping excursion. He felt they had very different senses of 'style' anyway; he'd hate to end up looking like the garish models in 'advertisements' or, worse, a clone of Kurosaki under her advice. "I'm even more excited now!"

'Should I be concerned?' Aracelis mouthed to him, like the woman had an evil agenda disguised as a shopping trip. He shook his head slightly, his response making her eyebrows dramatically push together. Orihime excitedly spoke of dresses that Aracelis should try on. He tried to imagine Aracelis in a dress and failed. 'Are you sure?' she asked him. His lack of reply made her bite her lip as she looked back to the babbling woman with a bit of fear. Talking about a piece of fabric had Aracelis nervous; such a strange fear. She would look fine in whatever, he was sure.

He returned the spoon to the sink and disposed of the empty container while Aracelis was occupied. She regarded him suspiciously as he left the kitchen. When he returned, fully dressed, she nearly glowered at him. Orihime picked up on the unsaid tension, looking between the two as her brain frantically searched for a way to mediate any argument that cropped up; she knew what he was doing.

"You going somewhere, Ulquiorra?" _Without me_ was heavily implied in her tone. While she had her moments of complete obliviousness, she happened to be watching him closely today. Considering the situation, he didn't blame her for being irritated. He would prefer to keep her in sight as much as possible as well.

"I need to speak to Urahara briefly regarding your gigai." He hoped the honest answer would quell her complaints. He had left her behind yesterday for more of a reason than purchasing her some necessities. Had Mirro woken up, the gigai failing to contain him, then his first target would have been Ulquiorra. In his condition, he very well could have died in such an event. Now he wanted to ask Urahara if the gigai would function as precisely as they presumed- it had been impossible, even with his diagrams, to replicate the fluctuating nature of her spiritual pressure and ability to create a perfect gigai able to fully restrain both. She seemed stable enough that he could leave for an hour; her confirming that she hadn't heard the parasite made this slightly less risky. He also hadn't been killed in his sleep, and Mirro would have tried, he was sure, if he could to take control.

"Well, why can't I go with, then?" She glared at him when he said nothing, waiting for her to figure it out on her own. Her eyes gradually widened as the realization struck her. "Because we don't know how conscious Mirro is, and you don't want him to know something," she sighed, pouting. Mirro may not be able to take full control, but he could be conscious and ready to use any information to find a way to escape. "Got it."

Orihime chose then to excuse herself from the room under the pretext of preparing to leave for school. He motioned for Aracelis to follow him- as in he stared at her to catch her attention and then started to walk away with the expectation she would follow. They walked in silence to their makeshift living quarters.

"I will not be gone long," he said to reinforce that he would be brief. "And I will not leave you without entertainment." He wasn't sure of her proficiency with all the electronic means of distractions humans had, but leaving her with something to do was also not his main motive. When he glanced over his shoulder he saw the spark of curiosity in her as she leaned forward.

"A gift?" she asked hopefully.

He nodded slightly as he bent down to fetch one of the notebooks he kept on the small dresser. Her eyes followed the book excitedly as he offered it to her. Despite her fingers twitching to flip open the notebook, she restrained herself, waiting for instructions or an explanation. "You can ask me whatever you wish when I return."

"And you'll answer everything I ask?" she asked, and edge of suspicion creeping into her hopefulness.

"I will," he said firmly, it essentially a promise. To the best of his ability, he would try to answer any questions she had. He felt it was a curtesy he owed her. "We can discuss anything you would like, Aracelis," he added, hoping it clarified that he was willing to talk about more than just what appeared in the notebook if she willed it. Aracelis, she would eventually wish to bring up what she said in Las Noches. Whenever she decided, he felt he should at least attempt to be fair towards her and try to explain the mix of emotions her words had brought to him.

"Thank you, Ulquiorra." She smiled at him before setting her eyes back on the cover of the notebook admiringly.

It was his turn to be hesitant as he reached out a hand to gently bring her closer. Softly, he brushed his lips on her cheek in an affectionate display he clearly had little experience with. As awkward as the kiss to her cheek had likely been, her smile grew.

"Make sure you are dressed by the time I return," he said, sending her into a small giggling fit that made him want to raise an eyebrow at her. Deciding it was something only Aracelis found funny, he stepped away from her, readying himself to leave.

"See you, Ulquiorra," she called over her shoulder to him as she plopped down on the couch.

* * *

His bribe didn't fail to hold Aracelis's attention.

She had eagerly opened to the first page as soon as he had left- and what a parting; he was being so incredibly accommodating, maybe even _sweet_. As she expected, the notebook was partially filled with lovely drawings, giving her a decent impression of what had been in the books lost in Las Noches. Although, these looked to be done in ink and pencil. Whatever Orihime happened to have lying around within his reach, he used.

Some of the drawings were of familiar Hueco Mundo landscapes: a section of the Menos Forest featuring Guillian feasting on each other, an expanse of the desert with the peaceful moon overhead, a few scattered ruins created by fallen regimes (even Baraggan had to have had competition, once), and other scenes that she recognized from wandering around the desert. The landscapes were every couple of pages, in-between other subjects.

And by other subjects she meant herself. There was one of her passed out in the upper branches of a crystalline tree; a common thing for her, back before Mirro caused their first separation. Another featured her shredding a pack of Adjuchas apart. Two had her sitting peacefully in the sand, one glancing over her shoulder, likely speaking with Ulquiorra. His memory for tiny details wasn't something to be trifled with, she reconfirmed. He definitely captured her two moods of then: sleepy and violent.

The final pages were what drew the most questions. A single drawing followed by a written description had immediately caught her attention. The image had a saber-tooth hollow snarling at her as she clutched a bone-deep gash on her thigh. Ulquiorra's description of the image was brief: " _You once asked me why Baraggan appeared annoyed with me. Know that it was because I prevented Ggio (the saber-tooth) from killing you, destroying a number of Baraggan's forces in the process._ " She chuckled once at him labeling Ggio as the saber-tooth, because otherwise she wouldn't have known who he was talking about. The rest, though, she recognized as a defining moment not to be taken lightly. " _Afterwards, you awoke, clearly unable to remember the battle. I had decided you were too fragile to leave alone, least I lose the only hollow I could understand."_ She had no memory of being attacked by Ggio, but the event had been what triggered Ulquiorra into following after her back then. He wanted to protect her, even then…

Until she heard the door open again, she flipped through the pages a few times more. Ulquiorra arrived as quietly as usual, wordless and blank-faced, sitting on the couch beside her. He didn't appear tense, which probably boded well for her well-being. She was sure if Urahara had told him something concerning he would have done something to tip her off to the impending misfortune.

"They were nice," she began, not sure what else to say. "I had no idea you had paid so much attention to me in the past. Or the landscapes, even. I'm obviously sort of jealous of your memory, considering how poor mine is." She swallowed back her rambling before it got worse. "I… what happened, back then?"

"I had been nearby and sensed the battle. When I had arrived, you were in the process of tripping before you were fired upon from behind. You lost consciousness quickly after." He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "Considering what I know now, Mirro had likely been the cause."

"Even I had no idea he was there, Ulquiorra," she said, knowing he would regret not noticing something so important right away. "You saved me… When I'd woken up, I didn't remember being in a battle at all, like you thought. I guess that's why you were the one shocked by me asking why you were there…"

She gently closed the notebook, setting it on the floor to the side of the couch. Then she leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder- she still felt quite clingy today.

"Ulquiorra," she whispered after a long silence, "what I said in Las Noches, did it upset you?"

"Yes." His quick affirmation almost made her flinch. "You gave me another label to consider. A label very human in nature. Emotions…" His tone neared disgusted. " _Strong_ emotions are horribly confusing to me. They…" he paused for a few seconds before finally forcing out with a hint loathing, "intimidate me."

"Something with the past weed-face showed you?" His extreme reluctance to get close with anyone, his criticalness about mistakes regarding her safety, and surely other things, it all got worse after Clematis played with their memories.

"Regrettably."

She nodded her head, having no intention to make him explain just what happened to him in the past. Just leaning against him she felt the tension in his entire body at the question. He had been serious earlier, though, about answering whatever she asked. Any other time and he would have probably denied ever being effected by the past in general, let alone his human one. "Are you angry that I love you?" she asked tentatively, her mouth going dry as her heart beat sped up- damn human body, she thought once more.

"To the contrary, Aracelis." His voice became calm again, his answer still just as genuine as the more irritated responses. It relieved her to hear that after thinking he'd gone on a rampage in Las Noches in clear rejection of her. Nope, the rampage had been out of confusion instead of anger; a smidge better, but she still regretted springing it on him before a major battle. "I am… glad… that you shared how you feel towards me," he added, perhaps knowing what line of thought she'd taken. "Keeping silent had been bothering you immensely."

"Do you know how you feel towards me?" She kept the hope out of her voice, understanding that he was still quite confused despite his willingness to consider such things now. Instead, she just wanted to know if he had made any progress.

"No." Firm and quick, without any anger behind it. Frustrated, perhaps, but this tone lacked any signs of it. It had just been a flat, normal Ulquiorra response. "I still consider you a friend, at the very least."

 _At the very least._ She didn't mind that answer, even now. "Take your time, Ulquiorra. I can tell you're trying to understand instead of internalizing and denying. You've been _very_ open since I got here." For him, at least, but that only made the difference more noticeable. "And nice. You didn't even complain that I'm not dressed still."

"You are never one for orders."

"I'd been too obedient," she said with enthusiasm, lightening the mood again because if there was one thing Aracelis hated, it was a very emotional conversation ending in silence. Unless that silence happened because she fell asleep. "Needed to remind you I can be as stubborn as you."

"Strange woman."

"I sure am. On the subject of strange women, how much time we have before Orihime comes back?" She wanted to sleep longer than Ulquiorra- whose schedule was quite the opposite of his bat nature- had allowed. A short nap before shopping seemed in order. "Nap might be nice. I need to be fully awake to ward off her attempts to make me fashionable." Aracelis had no idea what she had agreed to, but Ulquiorra had worn a look of resignation.

"A few hours," he said before her next thought made her continue chattering.

"Neat." She sat up, freeing Ulquiorra's shoulder from her heavy head- human bodies, still horribly inconvenient. After glancing around and recapturing his attention, she decided she needed help. "Where's the TV remote?" Orihime had a small, not-to-advanced looking television on the other side of the room, sitting on an equally tiny stand. "I want to fiddle with it. Last time I was here, I thought the thing was a fun way to waste time. Gameshows can get ridiculous."

He wordlessly placed the remote in her hand after leaning to the side, prying it out from under the couch cushion where Orihime likely lost it- a lot, considering he went straight there. His expression was blank.

"You don't mind, right? I can always find something more… educational? Nature stuff is funny, since I can compare them to hollows and laugh when they die." She raised her eyebrow, realizing she must have been bored out of her mind the last time she watched the image box- her original name for a TV, before embarrassingly learning the actual name. "I'd, ah, get a book or something." Not only was what she considered entertaining a bit strange, she saw it was the opposite of what Ulquiorra would even begin to think of as interesting.

Ulquiorra stood up, on the way to their living space. "The woman will appreciate your tastes," he said as he returned, confirming that he did, if fact, have no interest in anything remotely comedic.

When he sat back down beside her, she tried to stealthily lay her head on his lap without hitting the already open book in his hands. She failed, he stared at her, and she laughed a few times at his expression. Not surprised, or even bothered, just blank like he was saying 'Really, you couldn't avoid smacking your head?' She turned, making herself comfortable as she switched on the TV to find her mindless entertainment.

Playing human, it was so… relaxingly simple.

* * *

 **I decided to split up what would have been two chapters, so earlier update! I think I'll go back to sporadic -the stuff is done, just post it- updates with a two-week max. I've, ah, been playing a lot of video games so I can't say I've actually been busy… Eventually, like when the story's done, I'm going also to erase the author's notes (I don't remember if updating chapters gives notifications or not, so, yeah, sorry of they do.)**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to Collin125267 and CeliaSingsSongs for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- Aw, I'm glad the reunion was cute and that the lighthearted-ness will be welcomed! I don't think dignified tooth-brushing exists, which is why when I thought of Ulquiorra doing it I put in (it's just such a weird image?). And you convinced me! I'll confess that I had ch46 done a week early and didn't upload it so I could be lazy typing 47. So, some one week updates return. More human shenanigans to come too! Thanks for the review!**


	49. Chapter 49- Difficulties in Paradise

The second Orihime burst into the house, Aracelis fell off the couch, almost dragging Ulquiorra with her when she grabbed his shirt. As she lay grumbling on the floor, she wondered why she kept being so rudely woken up today. When she finished her pouting, she shuffled to her feet, sending a mild glare at Orihime as she stood smiling in the doorway. She seemed to be holding back laughter.

"Are you ready to go?" Orihime asked again, her earlier excitement having only grown.

While they both neglected to verbally answer, Ulquiorra and Aracelis joined her at the front door to put on their shoes. Aracelis had since gotten dressed; Ulquiorra didn't let her nap until she had. With the addition of shoes, she was ready to face whatever terror the human girl could create under the guise of 'shopping.' Not that she wasn't interested in going, as she had only had two outfits in her entire hollow existence. Human stores surely offered more variety than the scarce desert or the white prison. She also hoped that human clothing had only progressed since her last visit- and that the clothes in Clematis' flashback to the past remained in the past. (They didn't feel comfortable even when it was all she wore.) Then again, that meant Orihime would have an assortment of clothing to play dress up with. Repeatedly saying 'no' for the next couple of hours sounded awfully annoying.

"Aracelis."

She snapped out of her thoughts long enough to see Ulquiorra's back as he walked out the door without her. Orihime had to be long gone with her peppy mood. Catching the cue that she should pay attention, Aracelis picked up the pace so she could complete the odd trio.

After they spent some time walking, Aracelis found her new nemesis: public transportation. A bus, Orihime called it, as they stepped into the crowded vehicle, Ulquiorra handling the payments. Being crammed into a small space with a bunch of people made Aracelis want to die so she could be a hollow again- so much easier to travel in the sky than having this anxiety-inducing closeness. Orihime must have noticed her uncomfortably looking around because she explained that other people were going shopping after school or work too, that this was a 'rush hour' or something. Aracelis couldn't care less what it was called. She did not like so many people in her space, so she crowded her _friends_ instead. Ulquiorra didn't seem bothered by her stepping closer to him, nearly on him, but she could feel the irritation radiating off him from being in a mass of humans. Some unfortunate people nearby understood that too, since they spared him as much room as they were able to just to avoid him. Orihime appeared blissfully oblivious.

The second they arrived at their stop, Aracelis rudely pushed her way through the crowd, Ulquiorra wordlessly following in her wake. Orihime had been more apologetic to her fellow humans for her friend's behavior.

"I refuse to do that again," she grumbled, face scrunched in disgust. "There better not be so many people when we go back or I swear, I'm tossing people out."

"Do not start any physical altercations," Ulquiorra ordered lazily, although the stern look made her sigh in resignation. He didn't want to have to deal with her acting like a child. "If you rightly have cause to yell dramatically, however, I will not stop you." At that, she laughed. He wanted to avoid a scene, yet, if it was just words, he would find it amusing enough to let her continue. And somehow, he thought _she_ found strange things entertaining.

"I'm sorry it was so busy!" Orihime looked as guilty as could be. "I'm used to it, I guess, and don't really think about it anymore. I should have warned you it would be busy. It'll be quieter later, I promise," she said with sparkling eyes, like she intended to make it happen no matter what. "That's the mall!" She pointed to a large building in the middle of other just-as-big buildings. Groups of people entered and exited through a few impressive sets of doors spaced at different points. Orihime immediately began walking towards the nearest entrance.

The two hollows followed after the human to begin the deceptively difficult task.

* * *

"Do I have to?" Aracelis sighed, staring at stop number one: the lingerie department. "It's just… What's the point? Why would I want to wear two layers or more of clothes? I'll just get warm." She grabbed the nearest bra, face twisting as she felt a wire in it. "Uncomfortable too…"

"Ah…" Orihime's face remained flushed, unable and unwilling to explain the necessity of underwear to an adult woman who-knows-how-many-years older than her. It didn't help that Ulquiorra stood right next to Aracelis, breaking _every_ social convention- Aracelis guessed, because Orihime had asked him to go elsewhere only for him to ignore her.

"Right, Ulquiorra?" Aracelis hoped he would agree to let her skip this minor detail of playing human. "It's not like anyone would notice."

"Such clothing is rather pointless," he agreed, making Aracelis take a few steps back towards the other clothing. Quickly, she found her wrist being yanked to drag her back like a naughty child. She scowled at him. His unyielding yet still somehow blank expression told her that she would not be getting off the hook so easily. She should have known, considering she was wearing his underwear currently. If he was subject to it, so was she.

"Fine," she said, earning the release of her wrist. In defeat, she went back into the aisles lined with horrific lacy frills and bright colors. For something worn under the clothes, they sure were elaborately decorated.

A still blush-colored Orihime followed her, prepared for the challenge that was sizing. Aracelis made the poor girl's face a deeper shade of scarlet when she decided that the thinnest, most 'scandalous' of bras were what she wanted to try on. The less fabric, the less she'd notice them, and the better this compromise became in her mind.

Ulquiorra stood off to the side, rather disinterested in the affair.

* * *

Orihime glanced at Ulquiorra, trying not to draw his attention to herself just yet. He stared straight forward at the entrance of the dressing room where he'd last seen Aracelis. Orihime had noticed him doing so after the second time Aracelis went to try things on; this was the fourth already, since bras had been rather complicated with all the sizes and a reluctant hollow that didn't understand how one should fit. Living with him, she caught onto some of his body language. Right now, standing at rigid attention with his hands shoved into his pockets, ignoring everything around him, that meant he was extremely focused. The slight narrowing of his eyes often meant annoyance, but this time she thought maybe it was deep thought and concern since it was aimed at Aracelis. In any case, he seemed really on edge.

"Ulquiorra," Orihime tentatively began, "is something wrong?"

"What state of mind do you believe Aracelis is in?"

"Um…" Her brain scrambled to consider the question, not expecting him to say anything. He rarely asked for her opinion."She, um, seems happy," she said, a finger on her chin while she looked for answers on the ceiling. "She's been making a lot of jokes today. But…" She might not know the woman much- she actually knew Ulquiorra better at this point- but she didn't think Aracelis was the type to constantly crack jokes to fill the silence. Aracelis had been pointing out ridiculous clothes, or just grabbing them and holding it in front of her for Ulquiorra to see. She also made fun of a few people walking around. Her humor would probably be more sarcastic and subtle like Ulquiorra's… And morbid considering some of the drawings Ulquiorra had gifted her- she couldn't help but sneak peeks while he worked. Overall, Aracelis was acting sort of childish and theatrical. "But she usually doesn't do that, does she?"

"No. She is acting like an idiot." Orihime almost gasped at his bluntness. He didn't appreciate Aracelis's attitude at all to be admitting it to her _._ "I do not understand why she is acting in such a way." His attention remained forward, never wavering like he could stare through the wall to see Aracelis. Even if he didn't phrase it as a question, it was quite obvious he wanted an explanation. He'd likely been trying to find an answer himself, leading to his slight expression and body language changes whenever Aracelis was out of sight. If he was asking her for her opinion, he really must be frustrated.

"Something might be bothering her," Orihime hesitantly offered when she couldn't think of any other plausible reason. Ulquiorra and Aracelis, they were similar. Just like him keeping his expression blank whenever she returned to his side, she might be hiding her actual mood as to not worry him. "She might not want to worry you with it, so she's trying to act happy instead." This was something Orihime was familiar with, considering she did the same sometimes…

Ulquiorra, predictably, said nothing in response. He could be unnervingly quiet at times… Orihime couldn't remember how many times he'd scared her at home because she didn't notice him.

"You're not going to confront her here, are you!?" Orihime squeaked when she realized that that was exactly something Ulquiorra would do. Dismayed, she continued, "The mall isn't a good place to have a touching conversation! It wouldn't be romantic at all!" They would be admitting that they were trying not to worry each other! It would be so cute and romantic if they could have a conversation in private, like at a park under a pretty tree next to a fountain… 'Focus!', she told herself. Even her living room would be better than the mall. Oh, Ulquiorra was so clueless! Orihime couldn't help but feel like she should try to help them somehow…

"Quiet."

No sooner than he ordered her to stop her romantic advising, Aracelis walked out, raising an eyebrow at Orihime. She snapped her mouth closed into an awkward smile as her brain looked for an excuse to why she seemed so flustered. She couldn't let Aracelis know, it'd ruin their moment even more than Ulquiorra would by confronting her at the mall.

Aracelis mouthed something, Orihime turning her head just in time to catch Ulquiorra shaking his head subtly. She noticed them do that this morning too. It was like they had an adorable secret language. "I'm… I'm not going to ask," Aracelis thankfully said.

Orihime happily lead her back to the racks in search of more cute things for her to try on.

* * *

"Hey, Orihime, go get Ulquiorra for me." Aracelis peeked out of the dressing room, seeing the girl staring at her with wide eyes. "Come on, I just want his opinion on something." And she did, although Orihime didn't know that she had already thrown the t-shirts and 'jeans' to the side in favor of her own ensemble- one she didn't intend to ever wear in public.

"I, um," she weakly argued. Another couple had been in the dressing room area, the lady asking her husband how he liked this and that; Orihime couldn't claim 'no men allowed.' "Okay." Orihime turned around in utter defeat.

A few moments later, she returned with an unimpressed Ulquiorra. His mood seemed to be deteriorating since they arrived… She made more effort to lighten the mood by picking out outrageous things she came by- neon clothing had her entranced and appalled at the same time. He barely reacted to any of it, even one-word responses forced. The odd thing was he didn't seem annoyed, either, just… mentally tired, maybe? Physically he looked fine, it was just his attitude. She didn't understand. She wanted to help, somehow, since he'd been relaxed, maybe even _happy_ , earlier.

She motioned him to her, definitely not leaving the dressing room with the risk of other people seeing her. He stepped in front of her, already suspicious, when she grabbed his sleeve to pull him the rest of the way into the tiny room.

With a warm face and sudden nerves, she stepped back and forced her arms to the side. "What do you think?" Her voice went high at the end, embarrassment winning her over at last. It had seemed like such a funny idea in her head, too… In any case, she stood there well-over half naked, showing off one of her chosen bras and a pair of incredibly short shorts she grabbed on a whim- it's just, they were barely more than underwear, and she was curious what they'd look like on.

Ulquiorra stared at her wordlessly for a few moments, eyes taking in the spectacle, before he blinked slowly in exasperation. "What are you doing?" he asked, voice flat.

"Trying on clothes," she answered quietly, wrapping her arms around her chest as she felt very exposed. His reaction had been funny for half-a-second. Now he really did seem annoyed… "I thought… I don't know. I was trying to fluster you, I guess. Sort of backfired…"

"No, that is not what I meant." He _sighed,_ showing how frustrated he was with something… with her. "You are acting."

Acting? He… he really didn't catch onto that, did he? No, no it had to be something else. She thought she had hidden it well enough… "I don't know wh-"

"Aracelis," he interrupted, "I am not blind to your underlying moods." She shifted her weight, looking to ground even as he stepped forward. His voice softened as he said, "I played along with your act in hopes you would relax, but I now see that I have worsened the problem." Then his tone went right back to demanding. "Tell me what is wrong."

"N-nothing's wrong… I don't know what you're talking about." Even she didn't believe her words.

"You are overcompensating to hide the fact something is bothering you by acting ridiculous."

There was no way for her to refute the blunt statement that so accurately described her. She'd been trying too hard to appear joyful and lighthearted that she had given herself away. She felt rather guilty. Instead of being completely content that she had him back, she had a nagging sense it would all go wrong and she'd be back in Hueco Mundo alone… And now she was making him miserable with her. She didn't want to burden him with her fleeting emotions when he had his own more permanent ones to deal with. It was her problem she still hadn't gotten over him almost dying. Who cared that she lied around in the dirt pitying herself when he had been _dying_? He was the one that almost died, the one that had to reexamine the worth of emotions, and the one with a past already filled with loss; she couldn't push a few months of her fear and sadness onto him when he had had it so much worse for so much longer.

"I… I just want to forget the last few months, is all. So… I'm trying to have fun with this human nonsense…" How badly she wanted to let an apology slip out right then. Instead she stared at the pile of clothes on the floor. He didn't allow for it, gently tilting her head until her eyes were back on him.

"You do not need to pretend nothing happened to you over our separation. You have acted with understanding towards my own experience at your apparent death, yet you seem incapable of affording yourself the same." He paused, letting his hand drop back to his side. "I do not understand."

She sighed heavily, leaning forward so her forehead rested on his shoulder. He wouldn't move her like this, relieving her of the intense eye contact. Even if he said everything in near monotone, his eyes were soft, concern evident. "It's nothing, really. I didn't want to bother you with it, is all."

"I do not like when you belittle yourself," he added quietly to further compel her to share what was on her mind. It made her see what he did: she was acting on her human past again. He saw the insistency in her treating him with empathy, yet denying herself the same curtesy. "I am not asking this out of mere curiosity," he continued, voice back to normal volume now that he had her attention. "I found it necessary to ask, as your behavior is concerning." Of course he noticed that she had reverted to that scared human afraid to be a burden in any sense… Pretending to be fine not to bother others no matter if they cared about her, how many times did her human self do just that?

"It's that bad, huh?" He wouldn't have brought it up unless it really was beginning to, for a lack of better words, scare him. "What made you decide it was necessary to talk right here and now?"

"You forgot how flustered you are when half-dressed in front of me, and yet thought it a good idea to call me in as a joke of sorts. Obviously, you are highly preoccupied."

Ah. What a good point. And it reminded her that she was, in fact, still in a skimpy bra and shorts inside a dressing room. He chose the oddest settings for heart-to-heart conversations. Her face felt another flicker of heat when she realized Orihime must be thinking they were doing naughty things. Hell, other humans could be listening to the exchange. She took a half step back from Ulquiorra, lifting her head from his shoulder. "I'll tell you what happened later, okay? I promise," she said firmly, sincere. In the very least, she would tell him what she had done while in Hueco Mundo. "It won't take long, but it's…" Pathetic? Needy? She couldn't find a word that wasn't self-deprecating.

"I understand."

"I'll drop the act, too. I mean, this place is still ridiculous, but I'll only point out what holds my attention." No more picking up every little thing and forcing a joke about it before losing all interest in the item. He seemed pleased with the response. It made her realize she must have been acting like a very dumb child since entering the mall, that she had caused his mood. "And, Ulquiorra," she said before he could leave, "why do we always end up having conversations like this when I am or almost naked?"

His eyes widened a bit as he looked her over, making the situation slightly more embarrassing. His attention returned to her face when he realized he wasn't helping matters any. "I… I had not noticed it becoming a theme." The honesty almost made her laugh a few times. Only Ulquiorra could completely forget his half-naked… lover?... was standing in front of him to hold a serious conversation- while using it as the basis of his argument, even. She didn't know what word to call them, still.

"What… what _do_ you think of the outfit?" Call her a glutton for punishment, but she might as well get an answer since the damage was already done.

"The shorts are impractical. You will not be comfortable in public."

"You like the bra, then?" His silence paired with how he glanced at her chest again was all the answer she needed. He probably liked the shorts, too, considering the only defect he listed was her own eccentricity. "Good, because you're the only other person seeing it."

She waved her hand to shoo him out of the room so she could get dressed to continue the cycle of dress, undress, try on, redress for what seemed like the hundredth time today. At least she had found a few shirts in this last batch...

She couldn't keep a small smile from creeping onto her face. How he'd changed in their time apart… He wasn't afraid to show he cared, even if he did it in his unconventional Ulquiorra way.

* * *

Ulquiorra didn't know what to expect when Orihime once more requested he go meet Aracelis in the dressing room. The woman's expression had a suspicious hint of enthusiasm; a change when compared to earlier as she nervously ordered him to avoid confronting Aracelis if it could be helped- in the name of romance, or something equally silly. In any case, he figured Aracelis had found another set of clothes to ask his approval over. Another thing he did not quite understand, as he would buy her anything he could afford if she was guaranteed to wear it. While the shorts had shown off her legs nicely, he didn't want her to refuse to wear them around others- she may as well just continue borrowing his clothes if she never intended to leave the house.

Aracelis greeted him when he neared, smiling slightly as she hid herself for a more dramatic reveal. Once he stood in front of the small room, she stepped back, throwing open the door.

"What do you think?" she asked, pulling at the hem of a dress. A very short dress -or long shirt, he couldn't tell the difference- that she wore tight pants of some sort under. Somehow Orihime allowed her to pick an all-black outfit; she was just as 'dull' as him when it came to color preference, then, according to the woman. (Although the other clothes she had chosen did have some color, such as dark blue, dark green, and turquoise.)

"Aren't they great?" Aracelis smiled as she turned back around to look at herself in the mirror. "When Orihime was talking about dresses earlier, the first image I thought up were those heavy _blankets_ that cover every bit of skin; used to have to wear stuff like that as a human. Modern clothing has come a _long_ way." She lifted the dress up a bit, continuing with her clothing rant. "And these! Orihime called them _leggings._ Their tight on the skin, but still stretchy enough to move in. They'd be fairly easy to fight in, even." She looked over her shoulder. "They look nice, too. I've noticed we've been getting some looks because I'm wearing the most casual of clothes while you're over there looking all proper and nice."

When he found no response, she spun around and walked up to him, her head tilted to the side. She was genuinely excited about the clothes, opposed to earlier when she faked interest in many things. Still, he didn't exactly know how to comment on an outfit, as it never was something he had to do before. He could criticize things, pick out impracticalities, but he could find none- especially with how pleased she seemed with the outfit. The same happened with the bra… She reminded him he did quite enjoy her physical appearance, but he'd never done well complimenting her on that either. The dress clung to her appealingly, but somehow saying that didn't seem correct either.

"Ulquiorra, you like it? Yes or no is fine, since it looks like you're taking this a bit more serious than need be." She laughed under her breath, quietly adding, "I'm getting it no matter what you think, anyway, because I like it."

"It suits you," he settled on after looking her over again in search of a more apt description.

"Well, thank you." She gave a flicker of a smile before taking a step back into the room. After partially closing the door, she peeked around to add, "I think I'm done shopping now, too. I'll be out in a second so you can go pay." She paused briefly, frowning. "Where did you get money, anyway?"

"I will tell you later." He could hear the aggravation leaking into his tone. She noticed, raising an eyebrow at him before shrugging as she closed the door.

She would find it amusing, yet, ultimately, she would sympathize with him, knowing the extreme suffering that was him dealing with humans. Sometimes he questioned if it would have been better to pitifully ask that soul reaper for work. The few days he spent in one of the parks drawing portraits for people would haunt him. His personality wasn't made for 'customer service.'

He must have been scowling when he walked towards Orihime, as she began awkwardly laughing before babbling about something he chose to ignore.

Once Aracelis returned in her borrowed clothes, the three of them went to purchase the few items Aracelis agreed to buy. She would be doing laundry often, as her selection only included three pairs of pants, four shirts including the dress, one bra, and a few pairs of a very sheer underwear. He had plenty of time to look over her purchases as he placed them in front of the female cashier. Somehow, he managed to embarrass all three women when setting the underwear on the counter. Aracelis looked off to the side, like she had nothing to do with it. Orihime blushed furiously, as Aracelis's choices were on the "risqué" side- which made sense to him, given she didn't want to wear them to begin with. The cashier stuttered over her practiced words, eyes shifting between the other two as if searching for an answer to who he was buying things for; it should be obvious, as Aracelis stood far closer to him than Orihime dared- Aracelis remained the exception to his personal space rule.

As soon as the items were bagged and the money exchanged, Aracelis grabbed the bag as he reached for it. The only explanation she offered was mouthing, 'You bought them, I can carry them.' He held back responding with 'Don't leave it somewhere.' to allow her to feel useful without questioning her competency. He truthfully couldn't afford replacements if they ended up forgotten somewhere.

"Ulquiorra, can we go look around some more?" Aracelis asked as they left the clothing store. "I want to see what other types of shops are around."

"Oh! There's a great candy store here, too!" Orihime excitedly added. He didn't know if she purposely said so in attempt to bribe him somehow- she knew his eating habits, unfortunately. "They even have some candy that tastes like cheese!" Never mind. She was thinking of her own eating habits- cheese also did not belong on everything, he was sure.

"Cheese?" Aracelis repeated quietly, apparently recognizing the food as _not_ suitable for candy as well. "Whatever, let's go look around."

They let Aracelis take the lead.

* * *

Ichigo wouldn't say he came here to make sure Orihime was all right, but he didn't exactly refuse to stay home either. He quite willingly let himself be dragged on a family shopping trip to the mall. Eventually, his family ended up splitting apart to go do their own thing. His father was busy doting over Yuzu as she went to different stores- Ichigo left when they went into a shop with a menagerie of gimmicky cooking utensils. Karin ran into some friends and they went to the arcade. That left Ichigo to go poking about the center of the mall, hopelessly glancing into shops. Orihime had shared the plan: today they would go clothes shopping, and then maybe take a look around if the two hollows wanted.

He doubted Ulquiorra would. If he knew one thing about the guy outside his frigid personality, it was that he did not mess around. It was no wonder he thought the guy was the first Espada; Ulquiorra had more management skills then any of the other hollows he had fought. He would leave as soon as the task was complete.

Who he wasn't sure of was Aracelis. He knew very little about the woman, other than she had a temper that matched Grimmjow's and that her silhouette had looked very much like Ulquiorra's. He felt a bit curious, honestly, about her appearance. He wondered what sort of person would be significant others with Ulquiorra, the hollow with a severe lack of emotions. He still felt suspicious if that truly was their relationship status, but, given how protective Ulquiorra acted towards her, he decided to go with what Orihime had told him- no matter how unbelievable. His imagination kept filling her silhouette with a slightly more feminine Ulquiorra, though. The cursed image made him horribly uncomfortable. He wanted to replace it with what she actually looked like as soon as possible.

When Ichigo spotted a girl with long orange hair, he had to fight himself to casually walk over to her. He didn't see the other two near her either.

"Hey," he greeted, catching Orihime's attention.

She turned around, smiling. "Oh, hello Ichigo! Why are you here?"

"Came with the family." Ichigo glanced around, thinking the hollows couldn't be far from her. "How are things going?" Still no sign of them. There were three stores nearby, and with Orihime standing here, he thought they'd be in one of them. He already scanned the electronics store- although he didn't know why they'd be in there anyway.

Orihime giggled, making his eyes shoot back to her. "Everything's fine, Ichigo. And they're in there," she said with a grin, turning her head towards the last place Ichigo would ever expect to find two hollows, let alone Ulquiorra Cifer. He felt his jaw trying to drop open as he watched the most bizarre thing he'd seen in a while.

They were in a toy store filled with fluffy stuffed animals. The blue haired woman standing well within the bounds of Ulquiorra's personal space, Ichigo assumed that was Aracelis. Thankfully, she did not look exactly like Ulquiorra. He could see her face, while Ulquiorra had his back to them. From the her smile and the stuffed bat in her hands, Ichigo guessed she was teasing him. Ulquiorra _was_ a bat after all. When she clutched it to her chest possessively, Ulquiorra shook his head slightly, causing her to dramatically pout before grinning. She didn't release the stuffed animal, instead flapping its wings like it was flying.

If Ichigo didn't feel the scene was odd enough already, Ulquiorra made sure to change his mind. Ulquiorra picked up a nearby animal, a black cat… No, Ichigo caught a better look as Ulquiorra offered it to Aracelis, holding it like a piece of garbage. A panther. Even if it wasn't that signature bright blue, he knew it was meant as a jab at Grimmjow. Whatever Ulquiorra said to her, Aracelis laughed.

Ichigo didn't understand what was going on in front of him anymore. Not only did Ulquiorra allow Aracelis into his personal space- and even Ichigo noticed how particular the guy was about that- and let her tease him without consequence, Ulquiorra made a _joke_ that actually made her laugh.

"Ichigo," Orihime said quietly, bringing him back from his brain momentarily failing. "I'm glad that you worry about me, but you don't need to. I know it's hard to believe, but when they're together, they're much calmer and happier. When I was in Las Noches…" she paused, shifting her weight. Talking about her time in Hueco Mundo always made her timid. Snippets of information, never the full story, it made Ichigo wonder what the hell they had done to her. It made him reasonably wary to trust the one that had been in charge of her, hence some of the hostility between him and Ulquiorra. "We were all attacked by another hollow named Clematis. Aracelis got hurt, and Clematis ended up escaping. Instead of going after Clematis, Ulquiorra stayed behind to take care of Aracelis. He really cares about her… Which, I think, is why he followed Aizen's orders so obediently too. Aracelis told me that the hollows didn't have a choice but join Aizen or die."

"I…" Ichigo sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I trust your judgment, Orihime. If they hurt you, though, I'll-"

"I know, Ichigo, but that won't happen." She attempted to give him a reassuring smile, it only making him more concerned. He trusted her; he didn't trust the hollows.

"Orihime." The woman's voice made him rip his eyes away from Orihime to the owner. He was greeted by an icy glare on an otherwise blank face. Aracelis's expression mirrored Ulquiorra's perfectly, making Ichigo think that maybe that saying about couples looking like each other after a while was true. She stood next to Ulquiorra, her arm nearly brushing against his, Ulquiorra not appearing bothered in the slightest. If they had held hands Ichigo might have thought he'd entered some sort of alternate dimension where nothing made sense. "I think Ulquiorra and I are ready to go now."

"Ulquiorra," Ichigo 'greeted' first.

"Kurosaki."

"Everything work out like you planned?" Ichigo didn't understand everything that went into making Aracelis a custom gigai, but he knew enough to be concerned. Some sort parasitic hollow could take control of her at any time if the gigai didn't do exactly what was needed. Without a doubt, Aracelis was a powerful Arrancar- Ulquiorra didn't confer with 'trash'- and could create havoc if the parasite used her to attack. Ichigo hated that he wouldn't be able to do anything if that did happen.

"It did," came his curt answer. "There is no need for you to concern yourself with it further." Ulquiorra's attention left Ichigo in favor for Aracelis, bent on ignoring Ichigo after essentially saying 'mind you own business.' That was incredibly rude considering he _helped_ him. Orihime might have had to convince him, but he did help him, damn it.

"Are you sure, Aracelis? We didn't get to the candy store yet," Orihime said with a hint of childish disappointment. Ichigo decided to give up on trying to talk with Ulquiorra; it only frustrated him. "But if we leave now I'll still have time to make something good for supper!"

Even if Ichigo rarely agreed with Ulquiorra, the two of them tensed at the idea of Orihime's creative cooking. Not everything she made was necessarily bad it was just… _very_ different. He almost pitied Aracelis, because she looked between him and Ulquiorra as if searching for an explanation to their reactions. She quickly mouthed something to Ulquiorra, and he shook his head slightly to dismiss her question without her having to repeat the silent sentence. Ichigo didn't know the guy could read lips; his brain suddenly remembered all the times he whispered to Orihime his concerns about keeping Ulquiorra in her house, Ulquiorra himself in the room with them, watching them talk. He 'overheard' a lot of things…

"Bye, Ichigo!" Orihime said brightly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

As soon as he wished her off, she began walking away to lead the other two. What he didn't expect was for Aracelis to stop at his side.

"We're not going to kill her or anything," she said, voice far from reassuring, sounding more like a blunt statement of fact mixed with irritation. She didn't so much as look at him. "It's one thing if Orihime invites you- I'll tolerate that- but following us around is very annoying. I'm not going to ignore it next time." It may have been a bit obvious he came to check on Orihime, but he didn't expect one of the hollows to confront him over it. He also didn't know if she seriously thought he'd been following them all day or if him just being there at all annoyed her into near threatening him. Before he could figure out how to respond, she walked away.

Ichigo didn't know how Orihime could put up the two of them. Then again, they were not hostile towards her…while they outright hated him. Maybe that meant they were, relatively speaking, nicer to her.

He still had his misgivings about this arrangement and would be checking up on Orihime, of course.

* * *

 **Just when I say sporadic updates, I take forever to type the next chapter! Actually, it was just longer and I decided to change a few things from the outline to here. While Aracelis had a hold of the stuffed bat, she was gushing about how cute it was and that she sort of wanted it. Ulquiorra simply said 'Are you sure you don't want this one?' while offering her panther, that enough to make Aracelis lose it.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to ShizuosPrincess, xXYuseiXAkikoXx, Seiyo no Juroku, and BlueTheif for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- You know, you always make some good points, and I'm really thankful for that. I think I was trying to skip over dealing with the mess that was their separation and reunion; my first idea coming to this point was to make it seem like a fanciful dream where nothing could go wrong but that's just not reasonable given my two pessimistic characters. I tried to work towards that point this chapter, now, so hopefully I can correctly resolve some things instead of shoving it under a rug because I don't want to deal with it properly. I need to hit that blend of 'cute' and 'serious' now. So thank you, again, I needed to see that! Okay, other things… I thought about having Ichigo there the whole time, and, well, I don't think Aracelis would let them get anything done while having a glaring contest with him :) He'll be around, since he doesn't have much else to do. So, yeah, have this sporadic update!**


	50. Chapter 50- Dreams and Nightmares

The day wound down, the excitement dying with the sun.

They had returned from shopping some time ago, the bus thankfully not as chaotic, but Aracelis decided she still didn't appreciate the vehicle. The tight space, the vibrations through shaking metal, and the noise, she would rather walk to avoid the aggravation.

Supper had been interesting. By interesting she meant she had never seen Ulquiorra avoid something so mundane with such urgency. He even _warned_ her that the woman made strange food when she asked him why he looked so bothered watching Orihime cook. He was outright perplexed when she decided what Orihime made wasn't the worst thing in existence. Cheese and potato tasted fine together, but the cream, wasabi, and curry powder concoction was a bit much.

Eventually, though, the day slipped into night, and Orihime went to bed. That left Aracelis to face the fact it was time to share what she had done in the last few months. She still felt reluctant, yet, at the same time, she knew it would inevitably be for the best. Ulquiorra knew the longer she thought something over, the longer she tried to hide something, the more miserable she made herself. Like stewing over her feelings for him for so long; that had ended with many near breakdowns and tension. She had promised to tell him, too.

So, after they completed the ritualistic tasks of a bedtime routine, she prepared to put vague feelings into coherent sentences. They settled down in their makeshift room, Ulquiorra sitting on the opposite end of the futon. Under different circumstances, she might have mused how odd Ulquiorra sitting on the floor seemed. He allowed her some space, but he was certainly still within reach should she desire it. He didn't prompt her to begin. Instead, he waited for her to gather her thoughts in the silence. His steady gaze quickly became too much, even with his blank expression, so she stared at her lap, fiddling with the edge of the blanket.

"I," she hesitantly began, shifting in her spot. "I didn't know what to do so I… I did nothing. After I saw the tree crumbling, I just laid around in the sand by a deserted acid lake. I let Mirro take over most of the time when he whined about hunting. That's it." She swallowed, saying it aloud making her see just how sad her last months were. "Maybe a month or something ago I met Nelliel, and she told me Harribel was alive. I didn't know if I wanted to go, and Mirro had pissed me off, so I… I went on a hunger strike, I guess. No matter how much he whined and complained and fought for control, I refused to go eat. That's why, when I did decide to go see Harribel and ended up fighting Grimmjow, I was able to use my resurrección. I'd accidently starved him." She hadn't felt too hungry herself then, later deciding that much of the pangs were tricks by an irritated Mirro. She had sat around the human world longer without a decent meal, after all.

After a pause, she carefully raised her eyes from the safety of her lap to his face in search of a reaction. "I had hoped you were with Harribel," he said as soon as she met his gaze. "It would be hypocritical if I lectured you for your reckless actions, but I am also unsure how to comfort you. Saying I am here now will not change the past." He was right, really, since no amount of pretty words would change what had happened. Ulquiorra understood what lead her to that point, too. An image of him torn apart at the center of the tree made her stomach drop. She hated that her actions probably caused him the same sadness. "Do you blame yourself?"

"Sort of," she admitted in a whisper. He already told her that her words had upset him, even if he also said he was glad she told him. "I feel like I distracted you and…" And made you lose, she mentally finished. He had been godlike, stronger than any other hollow in her mind, and yet he lost. The blame, she felt like it belonged to her since he had seemed so indestructible. Even when she knew Ichigo had some inexplicable power, she wanted to hold onto the belief that Ulquiorra couldn't be defeated under normal, distraction-free conditions.

"I will not deny being preoccupied with you and your proclamation, but Clematis holds more blame in that final battle's result than you. Between the memories she used against me, the woman's particular words, and Kurosaki's stubbornness, I…" He paused, narrowing his eyes in absolute disgust. "I snapped," he said uncharacteristically quietly while glaring off to the side. He let his emotions run wild for once. Of course, he would be disgusted by letting irrationality dictate his actions instead of indifferent logic. Especially considering the results. "I may regret my own decisions during that battle, but do not regret telling me. Never regret sharing your feelings with me," his tone fell just short of being an order. Or defensive.

He really seemed to hold her words dear, almost possessive in that he didn't want her to take it back. She wouldn't have guessed saying she loved him would mean so much to him. Then again, as a hollow, he had isolated himself so well she was the only one he had in the end. Breaking the attachment he clung to for so long, it might push him over the edge again.

"I regret the timing," she said, not wholly ready to forgive herself for the distraction she had caused. He wouldn't want her to mindlessly agree with him anyway. "I love you, Ulquiorra. That will never change." Saying it aloud again, so directly too, made her eyes want to dart away from his face. She still had that lingering fear he would reject it. She was glad she didn't give into that silly fear, because she saw his eyes soften; that may as well be what she classified as a slight smile from him.

"I am meant to be comforting you," he pointed out to break a brief silence that had formed.

"We're both messed up. Mutual comforting necessary." Because, seriously, they were both messed up from the beginning. Human to hollow, they had their share of suffering and loneliness. Working through that all, it would be hell alone. "So, that's, um, all I did." She shared her pathetic self-pitying story and felt a bit better- more so she didn't feel like she was keeping a secret now.

"Yet there is something else bothering you." He had gotten very good at noticing her mood. Or, maybe, he was just more willing to point it out and deal with it now.

"The other thing is… weird." How to put it into words… "I suppose, being here feels like a dream I'll wake up from only to find out I'm still back in Hueco Mundo by myself." His look showed he didn't quite understand that the last day had been too good to be true. "It's just so much easier playing human, and so many things are different. I mean, we've gone twenty-four hours without something going horrifically wrong. Our biggest issue was clothes shopping!" She laughed a few times, comparing the stress level of shopping to chasing the weed. "It's jarringly different." The contrast between now and then, it was dreamlike, bizarre in its simplicity. One other factor nearly convinced her she had hallucinated their entire reunion.

"And… well, you're being incredibly nice to me. Not that I don't like it!" she quickly amended, eyes wide as she desperately did not want give him the wrong impression. She loved how hard he was trying, and surely didn't want to discourage him from his efforts. "It's just a change. A good one, too. You're being so open about how you feel." Emotional intimacy, she formerly believed he would never be willing to provide it to her. She understood that he wouldn't tell her everything, obviously, but this had already proven how dedicated he was to… To being close to her. "And you're being very accepting towards how we both feel. You've been very honest about everything." No more chasm of denial… He confronted both of their problems.

"I have realized the pointlessness of lying to you. It did not change your importance to me, nor did it rid me of any associated feelings." Ulquiorra reasoned himself into emotional intimacy; it was so like him Aracelis ended up smiling. "My past actions and unwillingness to accept the concept of a heart had also caused you harm. Inflicting further pain upon us is not what I wish."

She couldn't find words to describe how happy him saying 'us' made her. He'd grown so much in her absence; it almost made her sad that she hadn't been present to see the gradual progress. She imagined much of the process involved him silently staring into space while considering every little detail in search of an answer, though. Since she had no verbal response, she decided to scoot closer to him so she could give him an awkward hug while still sitting. Like before, her heart nearly skipped a beat when she felt his hand lightly rest on her back to return the embrace. This hadn't been a mistake, then. Talking about what happened lead to some relief from her worries.

"I know my concerns about this being a dream are weird," she whispered, refusing to let go now that she had her arms around him, "but I've always been doubtful when things go too smoothly. Some of that's a human fault…" While disliking bringing up her human memories, she figured this would help take her mind off of it. "Like thinking I was a burden to everyone around me. I'd been so accident prone and sickly… I ended up useless by that society's standards." And damn if she didn't feel useless as a hollow most of the time too. "Sometimes, I forget that I don't need to prioritize everything but myself. I'll work on that, since I noticed I was doing it again." Thanks to Ulquiorra once more pointing it out.

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra said as he gently pushed on her shoulder so she would sit back. She released him, although she stayed sitting right next to him. The hand on her shoulder moved to caress her cheek instead. "The memories Clematis showed you, what did they include?"

"I…" She glanced off to the side, thinking. "It jumped around. Like I told you before, they showed me seeing spirits, a fragment where I think I may have been attacked by a hollow, and then no more spirits. After that, it skipped through a bunch of different accidents and sicknesses, some that I barely lived through. The rest, before I died…" As soon as she trailed off, he redirected her attention back to his face. His expression was incredibly serious.

"That was all Mirro."

"What?" she hissed, almost raising her voice as her body tensed. "What do you mean?" No. No way he had been with her for that damn long, dictating her life from inside her. She had been human! There is no way she should… could have lived with a hollow inside her as a pathetic human. And, if he had been the cause off her 'accidents' then he… He screwed up her entire life from the damn beginning.

"When you shared the memory concerning your death, I realized it was possible that Mirro had been attached to you since you were human," Ulquiorra quickly began explaining. "That hollow you were attacked by as a child, the incomplete nature of that memory as Clematis showed you, it was likely because Mirro hadn't wished you to know the full extent of his role in your existence."

And Mirro would be correct, because now she wanted him destroyed in the most painful manner possible, resurrected, and killed again. She hadn't connected everything together so neatly. If she wasn't in this gigai, if Mirro wasn't currently so weak, Ulquiorra wouldn't have been able to share what he had figured out what seemed like ages ago.

"I have theorized that he cannot switch hosts without first killing you, or mortally wounding you such that you would inevitably die without intervention," he continued- though she trusted his words without much explanation. "Parasites are typically weak creatures. While attached to your mortal body, he had attempted to kill you numerous times, but you resisted. If you exhibited your energy absorbing ability even minimally as a human, it may have prevented him from starving while trapped in your body. Upon your death, I am unsure why he decided to return to your soul, but he perhaps recognized the potential in your ability should you become a hollow as well."

"He… he might have caused me to become a hollow too?"

"Yes." His voice lowered, truly angry for all Mirro had done to her. "You never deserved this fate. However, I vow to kill Mirro and attempt to make your current life more tolerable."

"I had no idea he'd…" She trailed off, trying to link together all the implications. From just the glimpse of memories Clematis had shown her, Mirro had been responsible for many, many things that utterly ruined her life as a human. Then he continued to interfere in her hollow existence. Furious didn't seem a strong enough word to describe how she felt. "And, Ulquiorra," she said, calling his attention from his own thoughts, "I'm okay with the fact I became a hollow, since I was able to meet you." He was one of the positives that came with being a hollow. She would never have known him if she hadn't become a hollow. No, she would have died as a human, soul sent to rot in the Soul Society until she was recycled. As a hollow, she also had gained a lot of freedom.

"I do not appreciate the circumstances in which you became a hollow, but I am… happy… to have you as well."

Aracelis gave a half-smile, both at his answer and at his incredibly odd way of comforting her. Not only had he changed the subject, he brought up something that would piss her off, and then in a roundabout way told her he was happy with her at his side and that she should ignore her human insecurities because Mirro had caused them- and Mirro was the last thing in the universe she should be listening to. He also managed to avoid talking about her peculiar sense of this being a convoluted dream, since he didn't quite understand how to comfort her without taking a giant step backward and acting like an indifferent jerk for familiarities' sake. Hell, he even worked in one of his theories that he could finally share with her. So… artful… in his approach.

She leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the lips. He seemed surprised at first, unmoving, hand resting on her face nearly in the way. After a second his brain processed her actions enough that he kissed back just as gently. The first kiss they shared in some time, Aracelis thought it couldn't be more perfect, and relished in the small affectionate display.

When they parted, she whispered, "I feel a bit better now." As she sat back, she fought a yawn from escaping. Her brain searched for how many hours a human needed to sleep only to come up with nothing. Considering Ulquiorra's lack of concern, she figured it wasn't Mirro draining her energy to the point of exhaustion quite yet. Just normal, human drowsiness. "Bedtime?"

He dipped his head in that classic slight nod of his. Getting the message, she pulled the blanket out from under her before repositioning herself on the futon. She tossed the blanket over them both once he was in a reasonably comfortable position. When she went to flip onto her side and drape herself on top of him, she found his lips pressed to hers again. A bit more passionate than the simple peck a moment ago too. She had nearly forgotten that his lips were incredibly enjoyable in moments like this.

As he pulled away, but before he laid flat on his back, he answered her unsaid question. "Impulse." Simple and to the point, yet hilarious all the same. He didn't have a reason, and Ulquiorra _always_ had a reason. Even without his structured logic, he appeared quite pleased with his impulsive actions- as was she.

"I don't mind impulsive," she mumbled happily as she cuddled up next to him. "You know I enjoy the attention." She wouldn't mind returning to the physical intimacy now that she had the emotional secured. "Goodnight," she muttered, nuzzling her face into his chest as she closed her eyes.

Even if just a little, she felt more grounded in this simple reality lacking in constant danger.

* * *

"Entangle, Memoria!"

As her form took shape, she howled with laughter at the miserable bunch of hollows she'd borrowed. Oh, they would be perfect, such weak things. Not a one was scary enough to create a commotion if they had the misfortune of being spotted by soul reapers. But how obedient they were! Dearest Ellzea had the poor things trained with her temper.

"Now, now, you can't stand so far away!" She beckoned them to crowd around her once more, breaking their fearful huddle to have her circle of assistants. Her resurrección had been used out of strategy not violence, obviously. Such little hollows needed a specific kind of directing if she hoped to reach their small minds with such precise orders. "Oh, yes, no need to be afraid," she reassured as she held out a vine to each individual creeping forward. "Just one touch, that's all."

An image from her own memory shared with the group, that was what each hollow saw as she tapped her vines to them. They froze in place in awe of her ability. Aracelis instantly become a familiar face to the gathering.

"You see? That is who I want found." The dear still hadn't come back! If silly Aracelis still lived, she would likely be hiding her spiritual pressure to avoid soul reapers. Or, she might have gone on a murder spree, leading to her being very much dead or a very wanted hollow. No matter the case, she had found something oh-so-interesting to be drawn there in the first place; it was killing Clematis not knowing what. "Wherever I send you, I merely want you to scan over the area while paying specific attention to anyone resembling her before returning." Clematis had no idea where she would be, so she would search everywhere Aracelis might be. Hardly a reasonable task for a single hollow. "Remember, darlings, don't draw attention, or I will I have to think of some very fun consequences to punish you with!" In order to use her ability to sift through their memories of the visit, they needed to survive it. "After you return, after I have the information I need, you will be free from your dear leader, as well as me." Had to dangle a sweet reward to ensure cooperation. Convincing Ellzea to free them had taken so excruciatingly long. "If you try to escape, well, you will be decaying piles of blood and bone."

The unanimous din of growls, hisses, and grunts made Clematis's grin widen. She withdrew her vines from their skin, then ripped open several Garganta. Each designated pair walked through their corresponding exit, obedient and silent, off to carry out their mission.

"You expect to actually find anything?" Ellzea asked as the final Garganta snapped closed. Clematis glanced over her shoulder to the pink-haired Arrancar who sat on the ground with her chin resting in her palm. Her portable throne -poor Geero's back- had been sent off long ago for incessant squawking. "You were damn insistent on borrowing my soldiers."

"As queenly as ever," Clematis teased, coming out of her resurrección with the loss of its necessity. She happily skipped over to Ellzea, vines drawing her sword back into her sleeve for safe-keeping. "I have no idea if I'll find anything at all! Perhaps I lied and it was all a whim."

"Yeah, right." Ellzea huffed at Clematis's smile before also rolling her eyes. "You already told me you saw her leave. You must think something worthwhile is there."

"Oh, no! Don't say it dear Ellzea!" Clematis held a 'hand' to her forehead, stumbling back as she 'fought' to overcome fainting at such a horrific realization. "Don't tell me I've become predictable! I couldn't bear it!"

"Shut up, will you?" Ellzea tossed a handful of sand at her, having no rocks -or Geero- nearby. "Only reason I agreed to your stupid plan was because I want to find Aracelis and kill her," she hissed, standing as she brushed her hand on her pants to get rid of the dust clinging to her. Clematis considered bringing up Ellzea's face, but managed to stifle the comment before it escaped her and made the former beauty explode. It would be such a mess of blood and guts; Clematis had just cleaned her clothes -curtesy of Las Noches and the help of darling Nel- and it would be a waste to ruin them already. "Once you find her, that's what's happening." Ellzea's scowl deepened.

"How cute! You're trying to order me around?" Clematis flashed a smile as she added, "You'll get wrinkles if you wear that face so often."

"Bitch, I'll kill you!"

Clematis turned on her heel, urgently skipping away from the pink glow behind her. "Depending on what's keeping her there, you might have your chance!" she yelled before her giggling set in. The sand erupted in a waterfall of white at her back. The dust filling the air could have easily provided her a way to escape the possibility of hours of angry pursuit, but what fun was there in that? "Ellzea~ Have you gotten slower? Put on a little weight?" The enraged scream ensured Clematis her entertainment.

Hueco Mundo was so dreadfully boring without her three favorite hollows, after all.

* * *

 **And so ends day one in their mundane lives as humans! Probably have a small time skip next chapter, few days or so, since I don't want to bore you (and myself) with things that aren't very plot relevant or necessary. Of course, that doesn't mean the human nonsense is quite over yet, either. Anyway,**

 **Thank you for all for reading!**

 **Thank you to The Strangest Loop, rogermille88, xXDevilzXx, and Vectori for following and/or favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- There we go, hopefully this a bit better now that they've at least touched on what happened. I definitely think it's better than just ignoring it. You pointing out things like this is very helpful, and you're polite about it, so need to feel bad about it lol. You've spurred some really good ideas for me after all :) And Ulquiorra certainly is more apt to point out issues right away now that he's not playing the 'I don't want to deal with my problems, which are also your problems, so I'll ignore it' game anymore. He may not quite know how 'normal couples' act, but he's willing to some odd things to make her happy- like the torture of portraits outside in the sun surrounded by humans. Ichigo is horribly confused, the scary hollow playing with dolls with his girlfriend, how perplexing! He'll definitely be around and confused a few more times, the poor guy. As for other soul reapers, I do have an idea for a short chapter I'm thinking about using- just not fully decided yet. Always funny to see the heroes gawking at former bad guys though. Thanks for reviewing again, and may you enjoy the random update!**


	51. Chapter 51- Resurgence

Aracelis felt somewhat more at ease now. Three uneventful, ordinary days living as a human made the fantasy fade to something nearing reality. It was still weird, obviously. Drinking and being thirsty still confused her greatly. Feeling hungry so regularly bothered her immensely. Not sensing spiritual pressure made her feel relatively defenseless even if Ulquiorra assured her he could still use pesquisa to a degree. The decrease in stamina would interfere with some… activities… since they'd been working towards that again, too. Okay, aside from living essentially in peace, she didn't particularly like playing human. It beat serving a tyrannical soul reaper and listening to a voice with an attitude, sure, but after existing in a spirit state in a superhuman body, being mortal felt limiting indeed.

Like her hand. She had smacked it on the corner of the table this morning and it bruised. So unnatural, having non-serious wounds not heal instantly. And yesterday! Ulquiorra had a papercut. A piece of paper _cut_ him! She could barely comprehend it- even if minor injuries still healed faster for him, her gigai much more restrictive.

She set the brush back onto the counter, finally having gotten the knots out of her wet hair. Despite having seen her face in mirrors numerous times by now, it was still strange. The lack of mask and markings, the left half of her face exposed… She wondered if Ulquiorra thought it was weird too. His mask, markings, and hollow hole were absent, while his skin, nails, and lips had changed color. She missed it, in a way, since some of those features had been with him since she met him. He was still Ulquiorra, of course. No amount of cosmetic changes could rid him of his distant demeanor and lacking expressions. But still…

An idea made her grin. Immediately she reached down to pull open a drawer, knowing what Orihime had stashed there. It's not like she went through Orihime's room or anything, but Aracelis couldn't help snooping around the rest of the house. That's when she easily found the small bottle of black nail polish. While the color didn't seem Orihime's style, Aracelis had noticed her nails the other day. The black was for making cute little animals' eyes -kittens, in this case, much to Aracelis's bemusement.

With her entertainment for the afternoon in hand, she went to find Ulquiorra. She quickly located him in his usual spot on the couch with a book he'd picked out from the library two days ago. (He'd taken her with, and she picked out a range of nonsense for when the tv bored her. The library, in her opinion, beat the noisy mall any day.)

"Hey, Ulquiorra."

He slowly glanced away from his book, catching her tone and the classic phrase as her wanting something odd. His eyes went to the nail polish bottle briefly.

"Can I paint your nails?" She shook the little bottle a few times, waiting for an answer besides him blinking once and looking away.

"If you wish to," he said flatly, not seeming to care, as he closed his book. "Although I would suggest the kitchen table is a better place to do so."

"You think I'd spill it everywhere?" She laughed under her breath when he nodded slightly. She would.

She turned on her heel, leading the way to the kitchen. He followed silently behind her, humoring her whims without complaint. He sat on one side of the table, her on the other. She carefully unscrewed the lid, finding a small brush on the end- it's not like she knew _exactly_ what she was doing.

"Is there a reason behind your request?" he asked as he set his hand on the table, allowing her to gently move it as she needed. Before answering, she concentrated all her energy on trying to get the polish on his nail.

"I was thinking about how different we look in these bodies." She sucked in a breath when the brush hit skin.

He ignored the mistake. "Do you miss my former appearance?"

"In a way. Yours had been a more dramatic change than mine." She bit her lip when her hand slipped, repeating her mistake on the other side. This… this would not end well. "Do you miss how I looked?"

"You have always appeared more human." She looked up from her disaster piece, catching that he was teasing her. His honest answer was, "It is strange, since as long as I have known you, you have looked the same. I would not say I miss it, however."

She smiled a bit at his very Ulquiorra answer. Appearances meant next to nothing to him, so slight changes would barely register. As long as she was Aracelis, he was happy. The only thing he probably found strange about this situation was that they didn't look like hollows at all. "Yeah, that makes sense. You'd think I'd be more used to you changing, since every time we've met back up you've changed. I guess, this time, it just seemed different because before you'd always have at least some signature characteristics." She paused her painting to lean back, sighing, "If I found green makeup, I might have tried putting that on you too." The tear marks, she missed them if only because they'd been present in every other form he had. They went well with his eyes… She missed his slit pupils tool they'd been more expressive.

After a short break, she went back to concentratedly painting his nails. Even when she got to the third nail, her 'technique' had seen no improvement. Needless to say, he had plenty of nail polish not on his nails.

Just as she was considering giving up, he asked, "Is there something to remove this easily?"

It made her start giggling. She stopped her work, screwing the top back onto the bottle. "There is, thankfully. I guess this is harder than I thought." She wondered how Orihime managed to make shapes, since a flat color had proven too difficult. In any case, she stood up, ready to take the polish back and exchange it from the remover stuff she'd seen in the same drawer.

"Aracelis." His voice made her stop at his side, curiously looking to him. "I will still humor you." He held a hand out, it clicking in her head that he'd paint his nails himself. She smiled as she forfeited the bottle.

Once she returned with the cleaner, he removed her poor attempt and began for himself. For a while, she watched silently, leaning forward as she tried to absorb just how he did it. His hand was much steadier than hers, even when using his off hand to paint his right's nails. He also didn't get easily distracted by conversation, she found.

"Nel mentioned that you drew a lot while in Las Noches," she began. "How did you learn…" She paused, knowing that was a question he wouldn't answer. That wasn't necessarily what she wanted ask either. "Rather, how did you remember you could?" This differed from her acting on ingrained emotions and feelings. If she believed she even had any talents as a human, she certainly didn't remember any. And what he did, it took a lot of skill. He looked just as familiar with a brush as a pen. "Did you just decide to try drawing?" She raised an eyebrow, that not sounding right either. What hollow thinks 'I'm going to try drawing something today'? Definitely not Ulquiorra. There had to be a reason somewhere.

"I did not understand how to operate Szayelaporro's prototype mapping system, yet needed to provide possible locations of powerful hollows. He was also difficult to work with despite my outranking him even then." Ulquiorra blinked, pausing his painting as he likely remembered the trying time. Aracelis understood from the single meeting that the former Eighth would have been a condescending pain to work with, but 'un-killable' because of his usefulness to Aizen. She couldn't imagine the Eight being a good teacher, either, with how many times he called her an idiot in one conversation. "I was forced to find alternative means, and found drawing came quite naturally."

Accidentally finding his talent by being annoyed with technology and another hollow, it made Aracelis snicker quietly. "I never would have guessed that's how you found out," she said, not having much else except the truth.

"It was something the human did often," he muttered under his breath.

She stared at him, wordless. For him to draw a similarity between him and his human self… She wanted to ask more, obviously, but bit back the questions trying to gush from her mouth. He did not look up from his nails, content with her silence, not looking for a reaction. He just shared the little tidbit to please her.

She then sat silently, waiting for him to finish.

"How am I meant to read?" he asked, staring at the sticky polish on his left hand. He must have thought it would dry quicker. It was cute that he didn't want to risk messing it up, though.

"We could watch tv 'til its dry," she suggested, gathering the polish and remover before Orihime came home- Aracelis might use her stuff without asking, but she didn't like making a complete mess of the poor girl's house. "Sports or game shows?" Sports, because humans seemed irrationally proud of what little they could do. Game shows because people making themselves look like jokes seemed to occasionally amuse Ulquiorra- and always did Aracelis. "Or maybe those ghost shows?" Damn if those didn't make her laugh. There was a guy she watched re-runs of, Don-something, that obviously didn't know how to deal with spirits properly.

"Horror movies," he responded, face completely blank to the point one might think he was joking.

"Oh, yeah!" She forgot about those gems; fake blood and even faker monsters made for hilarious television. "Let's see if any of those are on."

* * *

The screaming on the tv was overpowered by a much more horrific screech as the woman burst in. Aracelis pushed herself up to peer over the back of the couch, his arm slipping off of her as she moved. He could hear Orihime frantically pacing from room to room while loudly talking to herself. To think he had almost been relaxed enough to fall asleep before her arrival… From Aracelis's grumbling, she was upset her cuddling had been interrupted as well.

"What do I do first! Ah!" Orihime walked out of the kitchen, wandered around the small living room, and paced back to the kitchen. She likely wrung her hands as she went. "I'm never going to get everything done on time!"

"Hey, Orihime, what's going on?" Aracelis asked, further adjusting herself so she could lean her arms on the back of the couch. That left Ulquiorra laying with his back pressed into the couch, her knees just about to uncomfortably jab into his gut as she leaned over him. Not to mention the sudden loss of her body heat left him a bit cold. He briefly considered pulling her back down so they could ignore the woman, but decided Aracelis could speak for him.

"Oh, hello Aracelis," Orihime said completely normally, all the panic subsiding. For one second. "Oh, it's awful! I have so many things to do! We have a super hard test tomorrow, and I invited Tatsuki over to study later, but then I remembered I don't have everything I need to make supper!" Tatsuki would probably prefer Orihime not cook, if she was normal. Ulquiorra hadn't met her beyond that initial encounter. "We also got assigned a group project that we're starting tomorrow and I'm with Ichigo! The house is a mess, I need to clean everything tonight!"

He had a few reasons for not wanting to be around tonight, then. "Tell her we will go shopping for her," he said, knowing Aracelis would hear him while the woman's continuing sting of worries would prevent her from it. Orihime would clean her own mess while they were out. He had no interest in watching her scramble around the apartment dusting no-existent dust and throwing laundry about. Aracelis looked at him curiously. "Afterwards we will go to a restaurant." Her face lit up at that suggestion, as he presumed since she wanted to 'have the experience,' although her curiosity also grew. "I called her friend trash before ordering Yammy to kill her," he explained now rather than later.

"You always make great impressions with the humans, don't you?" she mouthed to him, smiling. Her attention went back to the panicked human. "Orihime." She sighed when Orihime continued fliting about the house, already starting her cleaning. "Orihime!" Aracelis snapped. A small squeak followed by silence showed Aracelis had gained the fretful woman's attention. "Ulquiorra said we could do the shopping for you."

"Really!? That'll be so much help! Where is he, anyway?" He imagined the girl looked around with a clueless expression. When Aracelis pointed downwards he heard Orihime nervously laugh. Just because they were laying on the couch together didn't mean they were doing something. Apparently, the girl hadn't gotten over seeing Aracelis and him making out, Aracelis's shirt forgotten on the floor. This was a regular activity for a 'couple,' leaving human modesty to blame for Orihime's overreaction. That being said, Aracelis had been quite embarrassed as well.

A few minutes later, Orihime had a list prepared and Aracelis had changed out of her pajamas. As Orihime passed the list and some money to him, she raised her eyebrow, staring for a second. "Did you use my nail polish?" Her voice neared 'squealing at something cute,' realizing that he looked more like his hollow form with his nails painted. She drew whatever wild conclusions her mind created.

"Aracelis," he said, walking past the woman before she started gushing about something or another. He noticed that she found some sort of entertainment in 'helping' him with Aracelis.

Luckily, Aracelis listened right away. "See you later," she said over her shoulder, showing a bit more curtesy to the human; she did better with these pointless social conventions. He happily allowed her to deal with them.

He led Aracelis outside and down the street. He had run such errands before to escape the woman and boredom. Walking to the small grocery store and gathering the ingredients would leave them with plenty of time to avoid the Tatsuki girl. And, even if it meant spending the last money he had, having normal food at a restaurant was worth it. Aracelis, he didn't understand why some of the woman's concoctions were acceptable to her. Perhaps some combinations struck a chord of human familiarity with her. She thought his avoidance was comical, although she at least agreed some things were inedible.

"So, any other humans you've upset?" Aracelis asked, breaking the silence that had lasted from the house to a block from the store. She had been looking around, thinking. "I thought the one's that came to Hueco Mundo were it."

"Kurosaki's sister, Karin." The child had followed Kurosaki to Orihime's out of concern for her brother's behavior. She then overheard Kurosaki complaining about Orihime keeping a hollow in her house. "Although Kurosaki's poor ability to explain matters created the situation." The meeting all spiraled out of Ichigo's limited control until he ended explaining far more than necessary; why the idiot mentioned him attacking Karakura and abducting Orihime escaped Ulquiorra's reasoning. The girl shot him a multitude of dirty looks the few times they happened to cross paths. These humans, they were all so tiring. With all their misgivings, they still acted like they trusted him and let him live in relative freedom.

Aracelis hummed in thought before glancing back down at the list she'd stolen from him. "It's not very long," she observed before shrugging. "And this area doesn't look too busy."

He found she disliked crowds as much as him. It made their outings together more enjoyable, as she didn't drag him along to irritatingly noisy places often. She even seemed to appreciate the library more than he thought she would; he wasn't sure if she would find books too static to be entertaining. Acting human, it wasn't as bad with Aracelis at his side. She understood the absurdity of it- although she did on occasion get childishly excited about simple things.

Eventually, they entered the grocery store to begin their task.

* * *

His attention jerked to the sky, feet freezing in place. Aracelis immediately tensed, stopping at his side as her eyes scanned overhead. In the briefest moment, as they walked back, he had sensed them. Two hollows had entered his limited pesquisa; they were of moderate strength, one on the cusp of becoming an Adjuchas while the other was considerably weaker. However, both should have long since abandoned the pointless hunting of mortal spirits.

He narrowed his eyes as he watched them circle. This wasn't normal behavior. The hollows appeared to be searching for something besides a meal. The two were also of low enough intelligence that he doubted them having a reason to observe rather than hunt. Food and survival should be their only priorities, and lingering in the human world went against both motives.

"They saw us already," Aracelis muttered. Formerly, when he first sensed them, they were on a straight flight path. After flying over them, they began circling the area. "They're looking for one or both of us, then. Not smart enough to be doing that on their own, either." She had already concluded the same as him.

This wasn't random.

No one had reason to believe he had survived, and Aracelis had been in Hueco Mundo last. She may have been followed. "Did you attract attention when you left Hueco Mundo?" Her fight with Grimmjow may have been the cause; the release of two powerful Arrancar would have been catastrophic and sensed over a great area. A hollow might use its influence to track a weakened target in hopes of overpowering and eating it. With her biting her lip guiltily, he guessed that this favorable outcome was far from reality.

"I, ah, flung around a bunch of ceros when I went back… I had been upset that you told me to leave, yet happy to see you, and…" She sighed, now seeing that she could have easily created whatever problem they were now facing. Then her eyes widened. Aracelis turned to face him, alarmed. "I'd nearly forgotten, but, when I was fighting with Mirro to come back here, I was hit by another hollow's cero. While weak, it was enough to startle him. I'd like to think it was random. Knowing our luck, though, it wasn't …"

Sharing knowledge with a hollow barely able to comprehend language would be difficult. Having them attempt to pick out a hollow known to hide her spiritual pressure to near nothingness in a city of humans, it would prove impossible under normal circumstances. These weak hollows would need an actual image to compare by, and, even then, they might not recognize their target. One hollow had the solution to all of these issues.

"Clematis," they said in unison.

Only the weed could share an image of Aracelis and then check the hollows' memories to see if they unknowingly missed their target. He didn't take the weed for having hollows readily at her disposal. The moth likely reassembled her 'army' and lent Clematis soldiers to search out Aracelis. He could think of no one else that would follow Aracelis to the land of the living.

"Can we kill them?" Aracelis watched the hollows, who still went unchecked by the local soul reaper. Just as he weighed the benefits of killing the two, they opened a Garganta, flying back to their leader. "What do you think we should do? As soon as she searches their memories, she'll know you're here too."

Good. Aracelis mentally kept up with the situation. The gigai, if Clematis hadn't found information through someone else's memories, may confuse her briefly. She might act cautious, unsure if he had recovered from the fight with Kurosaki or not. The gigais would also make them more difficult to locate, even if only briefly. "We wait to see her course of action. I will inform Urahara of the situation as well." If she dared come here, the soul reaper could easily kill her. If she sent underlings alone, Ulquiorra could deal with them himself. He could fight, although it would exhaust him to do so in the human world in the gigai. If he went back to Hueco Mundo, he would be able to use his resurrección long enough to hopefully kill the weed- the downside being that he would have to wait to deal with Mirro, as he wouldn't dare bring Aracelis in her current state while he recovered from a battle.

"Ulquiorra, how much can you do in that gigai? I can't even use pesquisa, so…"

"My pesquisa doesn't cover Karakura entirely," he specified, adding to an early explanation. "My ceros and movement are also greatly restricted, but usable." To keep his spiritual pressure from alerting the Soul Society, he had to appear as a below-Menos class hollow when in battle here. "You are further limited." Aracelis would be less effective than Orihime in battle while within her gigai. Her spiritual ability right now peaked at seeing spirits. Anything else would be impossible, it a fail-safe should Mirro somehow take control.

Aracelis nodded grimly. "I should have paid a bit more attention while in Hueco Mundo, even if she's really lucky to have found where I went."

He could not deny she had carelessly drawn further attention, but the problem might have been unavoidable. Fighting Grimmjow, she very well could have drawn Clematis's attention then. She had also been fighting off Mirro's control when she came back to Karakura. However, this did not explain how Clematis pinpointed Aracelis in the human world so quickly. "She likely used your memories and sent multiple hollows to areas you frequented," he concluded. And here, where she may take revenge on Kurosaki. This had not been coincidence, but strategy. The weed continued to prove so damn troublesome…

Aracelis growled in frustration, shifting her weight to her other foot. "Why does she even bother with this all? Can't she find something better to do? Because this is ridiculous. Who sends dozens of hollows to poke around the human world for one hollow that very much would like to kill her?"

"Her lack of reasoning is what makes her so irritating," he said, agreeing that the weed went to extremes for no foreseeable purpose beyond irrational obsessions. He had many reasons to want to kill Aizen (the fact they hadn't killed him already angered Ulquiorra), but sending them to deal with the weed and causing this mess was quickly becoming the main reason.

In any case, he began walking again. Aracelis lagged a few steps behind, staring at the sky, before quickening her pace she could be at his side again. They would need to stay near each other, or Aracelis would at least need to be with someone capable of protecting her. He doubted she would enjoy being babysat by Urahara, though. He would have to plan for whatever move the weed made, and how much to share with Aracelis. He… he would rather not upset her, but withholding information might be necessary for her safety.

They would have to wait to see what complications the weed's return brought, then. And waiting, Ulquiorra truly hated that word.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to Jengurl24, HoodedDragonX, jury,, and kittycatcatcher for following and favoriting!**

 **haipa-chan- I didn't even think of Masumoto! She would be hilarious indeed. I actually planned to stick the chapter after this one, so I don't want to change plans too much, but I may make use of her now that I've been reminded of her existence. I had someone else in mind for the main 'conflict,' though, for reasons. I think it's so funny you have a bloopers reel for the story! I don't really know how much people think of this while not reading it, so it's kind of neat to me that you do! And a couple living with someone else, well, that's just asking for trouble, isn't it? :) Anyway, Clematis means their fun, stress free time is coming to an end. I've sort of missed writing more 'action-y' things, even if the silly lighthearted moments have been fun. Thanks for reviewing with such dedication! I really appreciate it!**


	52. Chapter 52- Visitors and Guests

Unlike most days, Orihime's house was bustling with activity. Orihime had taken a break from her project to make lunch for everyone. Ichigo, invited over to work on said project, currently held a petty debate with a bored Aracelis over who would win in a fist fight. Ulquiorra had separated himself from the commotion by taking an incredibly long shower; he seemed tired today, not in the mood for visitors.

And then the doorbell rang.

"Could you make sure that doesn't burn?" Orihime asked the feuding pair before leaving to answer the door.

Aracelis barely registered the request. "No way, kid. I'd win," she continued, brow twitching because Ichigo wouldn't be convinced. "I literally have a century's worth of combat experience." Apparently, he thought they were an even match with her in a gigai. That sounded like an insult to her. The argument she started as a joke had gained some actual feeling by this point. "If we weren't standing in Orihime's house, I'd show you you're no match."

"Are you making a bet?" Ichigo said, irritation obviously growing. Maybe she shouldn't have poked fun at him being powerless a moment ago; riled the guy up real quick, she found. Nah, she would totally take the opportunity to fight him. She didn't have any outlets for her aggression now that she couldn't tear a hollow apart or spar with Ulquiorra- punching him while they were in these gigai's didn't seem right to her, since It could actually hurt him.

"I-Ichigo," Orihime squeaked from the living room, voice rising an octave. Her tone immediately broke the glaring contest between Ichigo and Aracelis. "Could you come here?"

"Yeah, coming!" he called back before turning to the hollow with a stern expression. "Watch the stove. I don't know what she's cooking, but she'll be upset if you ruin it."

"Are you ordering me around?" She raised an eyebrow, uncrossing her arms over her chest as she shoved herself away from the wall. He gave an exasperated look, making her break her façade to chuckle at him quietly as she passed him. Much of his entertainment value came from how worked up he go over teasing. "Dude, learn to take a joke. Unlike you guys, I don't mind her cooking. I'm not going to ruin it." On purpose, she mentally added when she stepped in front of the stove. If they left her too long, she might accidentally do something wrong. Obviously, she never was a great cook. The last time she even thought about cooking was when she watched a middle school's cooking class; being an invisible hollow, she had her fun messing with the class's work instead of learning.

As soon as Ichigo reluctantly left the room and Aracelis gave the pan an experimental stir, she crept to the kitchen's doorway. They couldn't possibly expect her to _not_ eavesdrop in such a small house. She wanted to know why Orihime sounded nervous.

* * *

Orihime laughed anxiously as Ichigo greeted their unexpected guest: Rukia. She hadn't seen Rukia for months, since she went to the Soul Society to, you know, do her job- it was easy for Orihime to forget that Rukia was a soul reaper quite a bit older than them and not a regular classmate. She was happy to see her, but… Well, some warning would have been nice considering she was harboring hollows.

Rukia looked between the two, noticing the awkward mood right away. The oppressive silence in the room was only broken by one problematic sound. "Is the shower running?" Rukia asked, peeking around Orihime.

"Oh, no!" Orihime waved her hands, trying to dismiss the question while keeping herself calm. She failed at both. Ulquiorra must not have sensed Rukia in her gigai… And she knew he had a habit of taking very long showers. 'Think!' she screamed inwardly. "I, um, must have left the sink running! Haha, silly me." She laughed, knocking herself on the head.

More silence. "Aren't you going to turn it off?" Rukia questioned when Orihime stood in place.

"Rukia," Ichigo said, trying to take attention from Orihime as she panicked over what to do- it's not like she could subtly yell at Ulquiorra to stop, and she definitely wasn't going in to tell him. "What are you doing here?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but the smoke coming from the other room quickly distracted her. Rukia pushed past Orihime and Ichigo, the other two following her with varying degrees of acceptance and defeat.

* * *

Aracelis bit her lip as she desperately tried to recall any information she might know about stopping charred vegetables from smoking. She had already turned off the burner and moved the pan, but she couldn't remember if she should put water on it or not. Her fuzzy memory only offered that some sort of kitchen fire made explosions or something when water's thrown onto it; she should have focused more on the lesson than playing ghost. She'd hate to blow up Orihime's apartment…

She wasn't very surprised when Orihime brushed past her to take the pan to the sink. Water had been the solution all along…

"Seriously?" Ichigo's irritating voice asked from behind.

It struck a nerve instantly, so Aracelis whipped around, ignoring the third person in the room to glare at Ichigo. "Hey, I didn't do anything wrong! I stirred it like I was supposed to and it just suddenly decided to do this!" Which was true. She had remembered to stir the pan even while listening to the awkward conversation in the other room- and trying to place the visitor's somewhat familiar voice. Speaking of the visitor, Aracelis moved her attention from infuriating Ichigo to her. Black hair, short, petite, big eyes staring at her with revelation...

"You!" She blurted out, pointing a finger at Aracelis accusingly. It clicked in Aracelis's mind that this was Ru… Rukia! "I recognize your voice!"

"My… voice?" Aracelis tried to recall when she had spoken to Rukia, because she was positive the soul reaper had never seen her before. Then it hit her. She immediately cursed Clematis's name, since the weed had been the one to trap her behind Rukia to create this situation months later. She was sort of impressed Rukia remembered her voice. She'd only yelled like one sentence at her. "I warned you not to go that way," she mumbled, noticing she had already lost the soul reaper's attention. She thought maybe being helpful and warning Rukia not to go towards the Ninth would have improved her standing at least a tiny bit. Instead she was ignored.

"Orihime! What's an Arrancar doing here?" Rukia demanded, obviously taken aback. Aracelis figured it was like finding out a soul reaper had taken over your home while you were out for a few days. Aracelis wrinkled her nose, noticing she just compared herself to Aizen.

Of course, as Orihime sputtered, Ulquiorra decided to join the mess developing in the kitchen. In true Ulquiorra fashion, he had a minimal sense of modesty, and walked into the room wearing pants, shirtless, a towel draped over his shoulders to catch the water dripping off his still wet hair like he had gotten out in a hurry. Aracelis quickly noticed she was the one most distracted by him…

It seemed an appropriate time for Aracelis to say, "Wow, if she's upset now, wait till she finds out one of the Espada is here too."

Rukia spun around, taking a step back from Ulquiorra, looking wholly offended he stood in the doorway behind her. "Orihime, Ichigo, what is going?" she asked again.

"Let's go to the living room," Ichigo said in resignation, walking past the crowd. "It's a long, weird story. We might as well sit down."

So, they gathered in the living room, sitting on the floor in a circle. Rukia chose to sit opposite of her hollow adversaries, Orihime and Ichigo on either side of her. In the name of peace, Ulquiorra ruined having a perfect circle to sit as far away from Ichigo as the small room allowed. Aracelis ended up nearly on his lap so she wasn't in Orihime's. Rukia carefully watched the hollows with a look between irritation and curiosity. Ulquiorra's expression revealed nothing, while Aracelis couldn't help frowning slightly. If Orihime and Ichigo couldn't convince their friend they were no threat, they may face having the Soul Society after them, or be forced to flee from the area. Given the situation, they couldn't afford to leave the relative safety of Karakura with Clematis searching them out; they would need Urahara's help if the weed came herself. A battle with the Soul Society would likely leave them dead as well.

Orihime explained much of the situation, from a brief summary of her time in Las Noches where she met the hollows, to Ulquiorra being near death and appearing before her for help, to Aracelis's arrival, and then finally to how two hollows ended up in gigais in her house. The fact they were essentially a couple was brushed over for more important facts like motives. Everyone chimed in, some information forgotten or purposefully left out, but Rukia eventually nodded.

"All right, I guess its fine as long as they're not causing any problems," Rukia said, arms still crossed over her chest in reluctance. Orihime's pleading look made Rukia sigh. "I won't tell the Soul Society about this either."

"Rukia," Ichigo began after Orihime finished her victory cheer. "Are you really here just to visit, or did something happen? You haven't been back for a while."

The soul reaper replaced the confused smile she wore while Orihime celebrated to one of seriousness. "There's been an increase in hollow activity in Karakura again. Given the town's history, the Soul Society decided to investigate."

"Describe the incidents and their timing," Ulquiorra all but ordered, breaking his silence now that the subject had been changed to one he could assist in solving. Rukia wouldn't be able to just go back and say she found nothing, after all. If she had some more information, she could make a much more convincing lie. At least that's what Aracelis guessed was going on. Ulquiorra might just be gathering intel for them to use, given that the Soul Society would have a better idea of how many hollows had been through. Having limited pesquisa created an issue when it came to things like this.

"It began about a week ago with an Espada-level spiritual pressure appearing and then disappearing." Rukia mistakenly glared at Ulquiorra. He might have taken the blame if Aracelis didn't interrupt.

"That was me." Aracelis bit back anger when the soul reaper gave her an incredibly doubtful look. She currently felt very insecure about her lost abilities with Clematis plotting something or another. The soul reaper struck the nerve Ichigo had already been poking. Then again, when she had followed her in Las Noches, she had made a point of concealing herself. Going from no spiritual pressure to an Espada's sounded odd not knowing it to be an ability.

"I knew I forgot something!" Orihime piped in before Aracelis could defend her pride. "Aracelis was Ulquiorra's Fracción, and she's actually pretty powerful! She came to Karakura when she'd been really upset, set on taking revenge on Ichigo because she still thought he killed Ulquiorra, but we worked it all out. So, no worries! Ulquiorra and Aracelis are both fairly nice when you get to know them."

"Maybe once you get past their attitudes," Ichigo muttered under his breath.

"Okay," Rukia said with a healthy amount of skepticism. She had probably seen actual reports of the energy readings. According to Ulquiorra, Aracelis had made a rather flashy entrance, her spiritual pressure at its highest peak including Grimmjow's, Ichigo's, and still some traces of Segunda Etapa. He told her had she maintained that level, she would have crushed human souls beneath it. She was apparently lucky he had forced her cero into the air too; it would have destroyed the entire park and everyone in it. "The other hollows started appearing a few days after that," Rukia continued. "They have been moving in pairs, and haven't been hostile. At first, they were below the Menos class, but have steadily increased in power since then."

"How many pairs?" Ulquiorra tensed at her side. He figured something out.

"At least twelve individuals have been identified."

Aracelis bit her lip; Ulquiorra didn't think the number had been that high. He said maybe four pairs… Aracelis looked to him for permission to share the reason behind the hollow invasion. His slight nod made her face the soul reaper again. "I may have been followed from Hueco Mundo. The hollows were looking for us, but… Well, they already found us. I don't know why they haven't been told to attack yet."

"Do you think it's Clematis?" All eyes went to Orihime.

How the girl already concluded the crazy… Right. Clematis was the only one crazy enough to send a small army of hollows into the human world to a town that was under intense scrutiny by the Soul Society. The thing that bothered her more was that Ichigo seemed to recognize the name, and she wanted to know just what Orihime shared with him.

"She is our most likely suspect," Ulquiorra confirmed, narrowing his eyes. "She enjoys meddling."

Rukia sat forward, expression back to one of seriousness. "How dangerous is this hollow?" A hollow capable of irritating an Espada, well, Clematis would sound quite threatening.

"She doesn't care about collateral damage as long as she ends up with what she wants." Aracelis leaned back, her shoulder brushing Ulquiorra's. She sighed heavily, anticipating Rukia's question before she asked it. "The problem is, we don't know whatshe exactly wants other than us."

"That doesn't make me want to leave you alone," Rukia said matter-of-factly. "If this hollow is going to come here and cause havoc, I'll have to report it."

"How strong is this Clematis?" Ichigo cut in.

"Rudbornn is a comparable comparison." At Ulquiorra's words, Rukia's face grew grim. She fought the bull. "While coming off as unintelligent, she regrettably is a decent strategist." He looked pained at admitting the weed could be such a nuisance to him, despite her being weaker. If it wasn't Ulquiorra speaking, they would have said it through gritted teeth. "Her ability has allowed her information from myself, Aracelis, Inoue, and anyone else she comes into contact with."

"She can read memories," Aracelis offered. "And then replay them to anyone she wants. They're deceptively realistic."

"They are." Orihime glanced at Ulquiorra before his cold glare sent her eyes to the floor. She nervously wrung her hands. "I could even feel physical pain when she used a memory of being injured."

Silence fell between them, an impasse forming. No matter if Orihime pleaded to leave her hollow friends to go free, Rukia had a duty. Ichigo, despite wanting Orihime to be happy, understood the dangers it would bring and that he couldn't protect her. Even if Aracelis knew the reason for the hesitancy to leave them be, they needed Rukia to stay quiet. If Clematis was a threat to them, then having the entire Soul Society after them would be their death sentence.

"I merely suggest you kill the hollows Clematis sends." Ulquiorra said, rather than ordered, to break the standoff. "She is already aware of our presence here, and is now sending them in hopes of drawing the Soul Society's attention. She is attempting to force us back to Hueco Mundo, and into whatever trap she has set for us." Aracelis hoped his logic reached the soul reaper. It made complete sense to Aracelis, after all. If Clematis was under the impression Ulquiorra was at full strength, she would want to face them under conditions tailored to her advantage. And, if she believed the opposite, she would want to drag them there to have her fun without interruptions from soul reapers. She wondered when he concluded this all…

"If the Soul Society does not increase its presence," he continued, "she will change tactics, and likely come here herself to act as bait. Urahara has already agreed to assist in dealing with her should she enter Karakura." The day they noticed the hollows he already knew. After their 'dinner date' they went to Urahara's. He left to speak with the man; she had snooped through the store, much to the annoyance of the red-headed boy. "I guarantee her demise once another issue has been remedied," he said, eyes wandering to Aracelis's shoulder. His preference was to get rid of Mirro first before dealing with the weed's nonsense. She could fight for herself, then.

Rukia silently thought over his suggestion.

The odd sound of a window being forced open drew everyone's attention. A woman with bright orange-blond hair crawled in, smiling obliviously to the extra sets of eyes. Aracelis wished that the woman's entrance was the most bizarre thing about her, but it wasn't. The fact the woman certainly not in her teens wore the same uniform that Orihime did- and her chest fit even worse, more cleavage visible than Mila Rose- made this a very strange sight, even for a hollow.

"Orihime!" she said as she slipped into the room. "I hope you don't mind me letting myself in! I just…" She paused as she turned around, seeing some people that didn't quite fit in with who she expected to find in Orihime's living room. The way she leaned over as she pointed at Ulquiorra somehow made Aracelis incredibly embarrassed and nervous at the same time. She caught Ichigo glancing away with her. "Isn't that one of the Espada?" Somehow, she didn't sound offended, just curious.

"Hello, Rangiku!" Orihime greeted, smiling brightly like this was a completely normal situation for them. Maybe it was; how terrifying. "I didn't know you were here too!"

"And that is one of the Espada," Ichigo answered, still avoiding looking at Rangiku as her chest miraculously stayed in her shirt- Aracelis didn't want to say she was now staring, but she was, this beginning to seem like a serious program interrupted with outrageous comedy. Aracelis glanced at Ulquiorra, wondering what he thought about all of this. He had his eyes closed for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. Annoyed didn't begin to describe how he felt. A grumpy, sleep-deprived Ulquiorra did not like nonsense and company at all.

"I can't wait to hear all the details of how this happened." Rangiku squeezed herself between Rukia and Orihime to take a seat on the ground with them. She seemed a lot more… Easy-going than Rukia. "Don't worry, I already took care of those hollows," Rangiku said with a pout when Rukia gave a stern look mixed with a hint of exasperation. Suddenly she had her arm thrown around Orihime's shoulders, grinning. "I couldn't wait to see Orihime after all."

"She insisted on coming with." Rukia shook her head, dismissing the ridiculousness of the moment. She even gave a small smile.

"So, details! You two _are_ both hollows, right?"

For a second time that afternoon, the story of how two Arrancar ended up living at Orihime's had to be told to a soul reaper. Rangiku's questions, though, were very different from Rukia's. Immediately she picked up on them being an 'item' as she put it. She made things much more awkward than needed. Some questions bordered on inappropriate. Only at one point did her cheerfulness slip, and it was to give a wistful, sad expression when their miraculous reunion was mentioned.

Eventually the conversation went full circle, ending once more on the current threat of Clematis.

"Since Urahara is clearly more involved than he let on," Rukia began after a few additional moments of thought and discussion with Rangiku, "I'll let this go for now. I trust Orihime's judgement of you."

"Thank you!" Orihime bounced in her seat, smile radiant. The soul reapers and Ichigo smiled back at her.

Aracelis breathed a small breath of relief.

Ulquiorra wasted no time, though. He stood, saying, "We will leave you, then." If 'we' didn't tip Aracelis off, the way he held his hand out to her showed he meant both of them. Now. She grabbed his hand, letting him help her to her feet. He walked off to go find a shirt, letting her finish the conversation with a bit more politeness.

"You don't want to stay?" Orihime tilted her head to the side, eyes almost pleading her to stay. She wanted them to all be friends, Aracelis guessed. While not completely opposed to speaking with the two soul reapers about _non-_ life-threatening things, Aracelis knew Ulquiorra's mood. He wanted out of the crowded house where he may offend the one's offering to overlook their presence. She wondered how he managed back in Las Noches, having to attend meetings filled with annoying Arrancar.

Aracelis shrugged. "I'll keep Ulquiorra company, so have your fun little get-together." They didn't need the prying eyes of two hollows ruining the mood anyways. She followed Ulquiorra to the door, catching the sleeve of the sweater he now had on- he must be feeling cold today. "We'll be back in a while, I suppose," she said as they stepped out the door. It was closed before anyone could give a response.

She was content holding onto his sleeve as he led her, as childish as it probably looked. He walked with purpose, some destination already in mind; she didn't know exactly where, but knew he desperately wanted quiet. Eventually they ended up at nearby park, Ulquiorra dragging them well off the paths before sitting down under a tree with a subdued look of relief. Seeing him looking so peaceful while sitting in a park, it drew a smile to her face while she simultaneously thought it was incredibly strange. He'd have dirt on himself, and wouldn't be all too pleased later.

"They are exhausting," he said as she sat next to him. Now alone, Aracelis gently rested a hand on his arm in attempt to comfort him. Ulquiorra glanced at her, but said nothing more, closing his eyes as he leaned back.

"You didn't sleep well, did you?" Or at all. The first night after spotting the hollows, he had never laid down, instead choosing to sit with her head on his lap in compromise when she asked him not to leave. Even when he did appear to be asleep, she wouldn't call it sound. He had rings forming under his eyes. If it got worse, he might look like he had been hit in the face. "You're worried," she said, mostly to herself. It bothered them both to not know what Clematis would do. Ulquiorra must have been trying to plan for every scenario conceivable, sleep interrupted as his thoughts ran. Not knowing, it always irritated him. Having a bunch of soul reapers in the house also tended to eat at the nerves. By now, he probably forgot what _relax_ even meant.

"Even without the Soul Society's interference, we are in a precarious position. You will be at the most risk." Ulquiorra set a cold hand over hers, surprising her. He didn't open his eyes. "I am worried," he said, tone flat, but sincere in his own way.

"I trust you, Ulquiorra. You'll figure it out."

"Your blind trust, I do not understand it. However," his lightly gripped her hand, "I wish to believe you."

She leaned against him when he dropped her hand. They were hidden from any hollows not killed by the soul reaper. They had gone off the path enough that human chatter was lost to nature. It wasn't even very cold out today. She hoped maybe he would fall asleep for a bit. She didn't know how far he could push himself in the gigai, if they could get sick like stressed humans. After a break from the noise at Orihime's, they could go back and wait for the company to leave, and hopefully go to bed.

They both needed rest with all that was presumably to come.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **This would have been up sooner, as it has been done for a while, but then I had a fever for five miserable days -_- There are probably some mistakes I missed, but, well, I tried. I'm finally feeling better, so I'll probably start working on the next chapter soon.**

 **Thank you to KimKat19 for following and/or favoriting!**

 **hapia-chan- Tada! It was Rukia, since Aracelis had technically met her before- enough that she remembered her name; I hope the chapter was entertaining enough. And I did add Rangiku, so she could be the final straw to send Ulquiorra into a pouting fit. And no worries *wink wink nudge nudge* I already have another chapter with that in mind planned ;) Well, just as things settle in the human world, Clematis is making her plot- I'm excited for her part :) Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoyed the surprise!**


	53. Chapter 53- Premonition

Aracelis pulled at the hem of her dress absentmindedly as she stared at her bored reflection on the off tv. Earlier she at least had Orihime to distract her. Static items like books were a lost cause to her recently shortened attention span, and Orihime had been the one thing keeping her from snapping this fine morning. Next to her on the couch, as he had been for hours, Ulquiorra sat silently, completely wrapped up in his own thoughts.

He'd been driving her absolutely insane the last two days. He wouldn't share _anything._ She had asked him multiple times for an inkling to what sort of plans he was making, only to be brushed off. He ignored her when she told him he needed to go to bed, or take a break, or do some other damn thing than think of thousands of possibilities that Clematis would somehow inevitably do the opposite of. But no. Instead he decided to stress himself out more, subsequently stressing and irritating the hell out of her, in a big annoying circle ending with them sitting in hostile silence. It made her feel like they'd taken several steps backward to when he wouldn't share anything important with her. She didn't like him acting so distant…

She continued pulling at the fabric with increasing frustration. Right now, she wanted to tear something apart, but this human body prevented her from her cathartic destruction sprees. Even plastic-wrap proved too powerful for her to shred effectively…

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra said, truly addressing her for the first time that morning, "if you are so bored, find something to distract yourself with."

Her hand shook as her final string of patience frayed and snapped in two. _He_ was bothered by _her_ fidgeting? Well, Aracelis decided that the only compromise she would be making was if he also became part of the distraction.

After prying her fingers from the hem of her dress before she tore it, she exchanged her death grip there for the collar of Ulquiorra's shirt. His eyes widened as she roughly pulled him closer. She didn't see his reaction as she met her lips to his in a demanding kiss he at first hesitated to return. Within a few moments, he moved his lips against hers, albeit less fervently, more experimentally, unsure how he should react.

When she sat back, he admitted defeat.

"I do not understand," he said, brows slightly pushed together.

Innocent confusion… Aracelis pouted to herself, looking away so her anger didn't ebb too much. She still had a point to make, and couldn't let him win so easily. "I'm frustrated with the situation too," she began, crossing her arms over her chest. "You've been ignoring me, planning everything alone, telling me to just sit back and watch as you exhaust yourself. I understand if you don't want to tell me everything, since Mirro might use it, but something, _anything_ …" Her nails bit into the skin of her arm, a flicker of pain making her glance down. "I feel useless in this thing. I can't just go out and kill something to take the edge off. Sitting here, doing nothing, not being included in plan making, its aggravating."

She trailed off for a moment, letting that much sink in before she whipped around to glare at him. "And you're not helping. Telling me to go find a damn distraction while you're over here making sleep-deprived plans… Weedy probably won't do something we can easily predict anyway. If anyone needs a distraction, it's you. You're running yourself ragged for no reason."

He stared. And stared some more. Eventually he blinked and glanced away briefly, quietly admitting, "I did not consider that."

She let her glare give way to an eyeroll.

"And your actions earlier," he continued, "You meant to distract us both with sex?"

"Yes," she sighed, trying to hide her slight embarrassment at how blunt he was, while also glad he figured it out without more hints. Not that she stayed embarrassed, as they had been together long enough that there was no point in blushing at every little awkward moment he created. It'd be a waste of time.

Instead she went straight to straddling him, a hand on the side of his face as she pressed her lips against his again. It took only a moment for Ulquiorra to get over her boldness, his hands trailing down her sides, feeling over every curve. He nipped her lower lip to convince her to open her mouth for his tongue to slip in to fight against hers. He bit harder to get her to gasp when she refused to cooperate. Quickly, she had her fingers knotted in his silky hair, his hand on the back of her head to keep her mouth to his.

When it came time to breath, she pulled away, his hand slipping to join his other in grabbing her hips to pull her close. They were breathing hard, air filled with soft pants, words dead. Aracelis released his hair, fingers running along his jawline admiringly before meeting the top button of his shirt. A new challenge, she noted through the lustful haze. She fumbled for only a second, much more determined to have his clothes off than doing battle with something silly like buttons. Once the buttons were undone, Ulquiorra quite willingly took it off, tossing it over the back of the unoccupied side of the couch.

Her fingers immediately traced down his neck, to his collarbone, hesitating as she stared somewhat curiously. She felt a heartbeat under flawless skin. No hollow hole morbidly cut through his chest, and he had no tattooed reminder of his rank as a soldier. No scars, either, making her wonder if the same applied to his hollow body. After that battle…

In uncharacteristic impatience, Ulquiorra grabbed her hand, pulling to make her lean forward again to reunite their lips. Even if the warmth and pleasure begged her to stay, her lips gradually left his to trail kisses down his neck to the base of his throat. He relaxed under her, sighing quietly. His hand somehow found its way under her dress to the bare skin of her back, cold fingers shocking against her warm skin. After lightly nipping at his collarbones, she kissed back up to just below his jaw, tongue and lips teasing a sensitive spot. Then, as usual, she bit down. What began as a strangled groan turned into a sharp breath, his nails digging into her skin.

"Stop," he ordered between heavy breathes.

She saw why when she leaned back. Her face flushed at seeing the indents her teeth had left in his skin. With how red it already looked, he would have a horrendous bruise from a very visible bitemark… "I forgot…" Before, when his skin essentially had the give of a rock, she could bite down as hard as she wanted without a second thought; he didn't exactly have sensitive nerves in his hollow form. "That probably hurt, too," she mumbled, eyes still fixed on the damage. Sure, he left bruises on her during sex, but he at least had restraint- in their hollow bodies he could easily snap her in half if he wanted. She just bit into him like she was trying to saw open his neck with her teeth though…

A tug at the hem of her dress returned her attention to Ulquiorra's face… which was as unbothered as ever. "I'm fine, Aracelis" he reassured her, gathering the extra fabric before lifting it up, obviously wanting it off. Now.

Once she had her dress thrown off to the side, she held back a snicker. Ulquiorra stared at her chest, eyes narrowed like he'd been deeply offended. His less guarded reactions showed his focus had already gone to pleasure rather than restraint. The fact a sheer fabric so obviously irritated him seemed to prove that.

"Did you forget about bras?" Aracelis asked, amusement leaking into her voice. He was outright offended he didn't have bare chest in his face. She found it hilarious a bra of all things managed to upset him more than her biting him, leaving a mark that wouldn't be hidden by much of his wardrobe. "You're the one that said I _had_ to wear one," she teased, making no move to take it off.

"It is a human proclivity," he answered, already reaching around her back, fingers unclasping the bra with more expertise than Aracelis could claim. He made disrobing her seem much too easy with his skillful fingers. "However, it is highly inconvenient at the moment."

Despite the 'inconvenience,' she felt the fabric go slack. She slipped out of the bra with the hard work already done. She had no idea where she flung it to other than the side and away. Immediately she felt cold hands trailing down her chest, cupping over her breasts before one hand went to her hip, coaxing her closer. With his lips and tongue moving from her neck downward, she gave a contented sigh. Then a stifled moan as he pinched her nipple, mouth over the other. He growled quietly when her hand managed to find his groin. He growled her name when she began fiddling with another button and a zipper. It encouraged her all the more, hearing him actually say her name.

She finally had his undivided attention…

* * *

"We only have to practice our presentation now," Orihime happily declared next to Ichigo, pulling out her apartment's key. "I think we'll do really well tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Ichigo mumbled, shifting his weight as she unlocked the door. He felt bothered by something he couldn't name. He guessed it had to do with the hollows.

Ichigo had been over a few times since Rukia and Rangiku dropped by; Ulquiorra had been more annoying than usual with his standoffish attitude. They had Orihime tell them more about this Clematis, and from her information and how preoccupied Ulquiorra seemed with countering her, Ichigo had a bad feeling. He hated that he couldn't do much to help, seeing as he couldn't even _see_ hollows. It set him on edge. Well, it made him more on edge because he obviously didn't trust Ulquiorra to begin with. No amount of good behavior could change how dangerous him and his allies could be. Ichigo also trusted Ulquiorra to choose Aracelis's safety over Orihime's. He understood Ulquiorra's reasoning, but still, he didn't believe Ulquiorra would even try to protect Orihime if things went wrong.

Orihime swung open the door.

At first, they heard nothing, which was suspicious in itself. The lights were off, curtains drawn, the apartment relatively dark even in the daylight hours. Even if he wanted to believe the hollows had simply left Karakura, Ichigo figured they hadn't. Something else felt amiss with the apartment…

And then he began to notice a select few disturbing things. First, an abandoned shirt clearly belonging to Ulquiorra draped across the back of the couch. That, followed by a bra on an end-table. Then pants on the way to their 'room.' Very, very unwanted thoughts popped into his head. The last thing he'd ever wanted was the mental image of two Arrancar doing _things_ with each other on his friend's floor. The image was gag-inducing…

His face was already beet-red and scrunched up in a horrific combination of disgust and embarrassment when it got worse. Hearing things better left undescribed sent him and Orihime scurrying back out of the apartment, door all but slammed behind them as they escaped from… from some indecent noises and panting. And masculine moaning of a name.

Ichigo wanted to hit his head on a wall until he forgot everything. This was the stuff of nightmares. Awful, terror-inspiring, traumatic nightmares that get turned to repressed memories.

Far away from the apartment with the slimmest possibility of hearing _anything_ gone, they stood, eyes on the ground with boiling-hot faces. Somehow, in the silence, they understood to never bring up what they'd accidently walked in on. Ever.

"D-do you want to go to a café?" Orihime meekly suggested after a long, quiet time recovering from the initial shock. Standing outside her apartment wouldn't help them forget any sooner. "Th-there's a nice one nearby."

"Anywhere but here," Ichigo agreed.

He'd be even more awkward around the hollows now, with that unwanted mental image popping into his mind. Poor Orihime… She had to go back there later.

* * *

She pouted, looking over the remnants of her hollows. The soul reapers had killed so many of her dear soldiers in their last strike, but…

Clematis whirled around in a circle, giggling. Ulquiorra was alive! All of her little playthings were alive and well, hiding in the human world. What a cherished memory that hollow had brought her! Their concentrated glares, the absolute hatred in their eyes, Clematis adored it so. And Aracelis looked so cute masquerading as a human!

Although, that also posed a small, teensy problem. These pseudo-bodies, Clematis had only fuzzy details of their functions, and, ultimately, how restrictive they truly were. Ulquiorra, she assumed he still wore the wounds of his battle with the soul reaper boy. How many? How severe? Questions she had no answer for, yet may prove the difference between her death or survival. She had challenged him, sent hollows as irritants begging to be dismissed, but Ulquiorra didn't personally seek them out for destruction. Because he couldn't? Because he knew her goal? She simply didn't have an answer.

Yet.

She wrapped her arms around herself, swaying, trying to stifle her laughter before she scared off her minions again. She would just need to change plans to force her friends from hiding into her waiting arms in Hueco Mundo. The Soul Society hadn't cooperated, so it was left to her to convince them to return to the stage for this final act.

Her skewed sense of justice demanded a finale filled with carnage, with the death of the unworthy, with the redemption of the wrongly damned! To the end with them, the demon unable to protect and the parasite unable to let go.

* * *

They sat at the kitchen table, finishing their simple meal of toast and somewhat burnt eggs- Aracelis had tried cooking under his instruction, but made a small timing mistake that could easily be corrected next time. Orihime attempted to enter the house silently, old door hinges making a creak in warning. Aracelis perked up, losing interest in the remains of her food.

Orihime timidly walked into the kitchen, perhaps noticing the mess of clothes had been picked up since the last time she'd been home. She openly stared at his neck, without a doubt noticing the bruising bitemark on his pale skin, it a beacon against the white- not that he was upset, as Aracelis had meant no harm. He returned to eating, content in letting Aracelis talk to the girl.

"Hey," Aracelis greeted, oblivious. Perhaps he should have told her… "You're home sort of late. Working on that project thing with Oranges?"

Orihime let out a string of nervous laughter, face tinged red. "Y-yeah! We finished it all up, and tomorrow we'll be presenting, but I guess we should have practiced more, but the café wasn't really a good place to do that, and then Ichigo's house was a bit noisy too, so…" She thankfully cut herself off with more embarrassed laughter.

"Okay?" Aracelis mumbled, raising an eyebrow at the rambling response.

He should have told her, it seemed. Orihime, as well as Kurosaki, had almost interrupted them earlier. If Aracelis had noticed them, she may have become highly embarrassed, her improving mood ruined. He hadn't wanted that. He had been enjoying himself, and had been close to making her orgasm. So, he had deliberately made a point of calling her name while getting a bit rougher with her until the humans had the sense to leave. Of course, now, outside of the moment, she may be a bit upset that someone heard them.

Admittedly, he had enjoyed her suggestion of having sex as a momentary distraction. It was easier to debate her annoyance at an interruption than devise battle plans against the irrational. She was likely correct about Clematis not following a singular strategy as well. The weed would leave herself plenty of escape routes, per usual. Waiting may inevitably, irritatingly be what this stalemate lead to. Aracelis's anger made sense, given that his preoccupation with his thoughts would get him nowhere and only serve to stress Aracelis more. She did not have many outlets for her anger _not_ involving physical activity of some sort, be it killing, sparring, or intercourse. Him ignoring her hadn't been helping matters.

If something did happen, if all his plans fell apart, he wouldn't forgive himself for squandering their time together _again_. Because not only was he desperately making guesses at what Clematis would do, he was worried about Aracelis's safety, reliving every moment he had failed to protect her thus far. It weighed on him more than he cared to admit. Considering their enemy used his doubts against him before, this time, with his attachment to Aracelis stronger than ever, he feared it would be easy for her to manipulate him and distract him under the weight of the past.

Aracelis as well… If Clematis grabbed either of them, she would know everything. Even if she merely read their memories and then retreated, she would know too much about the gigai, about how weak Aracelis was in it, about how desperate Mirro would become if given the opportunity to escape.

"Ulquiorra?"

He glanced up from his plate where his eyes had drifted. Aracelis titled her head to the side, eyebrows pushed together in concern. She noticed, then. He wondered how much control he lost for her to notice when he began thinking of unpleasant matters.

"You think it's too early for bed? I'm kind of tired." She finished her thought, hiding it from Orihime, by mouthing, "And I want you to come with."

She truly felt concerned with his lack of sleep… He had been restless recently, unable to relax with the hollows lurking outside of his pesquisa. With the gigai, even he felt exhausted by sleep deprivation. And now, after some rather intense physical exertion, his body felt the strain. Perhaps an attempt at sleeping was warranted.

He pushed back his chair, prepared to pick up the dishes and give into Aracelis's will a second time today.

"I'll handle that," Orihime said as she swooped in, grabbing the plates without allowing for complaint. Either she didn't want to deal with them after being privy to a rather private moment, or she also noticed he needed to sleep. Perhaps both. The woman had her moments of perceptiveness.

He brushed it off, not caring what the woman did. Instead he stood, Aracelis copying his actions with a hint of enthusiasm. How sad that she grew excited by him responding to such a simple show of concern… As she joined him at his side, he gave into a whim, placing his hand on the small of her back. For such a small action, she gave a subtle smile immediately. That smile…

That smile, he wished he saw it more often. For it meant she was happy, and, selfishly, the flicker of warmth he felt at seeing it, he wished to feel it more often as well.

"I love you, Ulquiorra," she whispered, words for him alone. Sincere and tender, he wondered if he could repeat those words to her with such feeling. He considered trying, but kept silent, unsure if he was capable of returning such emotion with as much sincerity. He didn't want to lie to her, even accidentally, with such heavy words. Although he knew…

He knew losing her now, it would be his end, because _that_ was the only word he could find to label the persistent emotion he had for her.

* * *

 **What is that? Is that the plot returning? Yes. Yes, it is. A few more chapters to the end. How terrifying is that?**

 **Thank you for reading!**

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	54. Chapter 54- Invasion

A solemn howl shattered the peaceful morning air.

Ulquiorra shot up, pulling Aracelis to her feet with him. Orihime rushed into the living room, pajama top paired with her school uniform's skirt. The three stared at each other as the ominous howling intensified.

Orihime ran for the door first, face determined as she launched into one of Ulquiorra's strategies. Ichigo would be pissed if he knew she would be holding off the hollows, alone, so they could flee to Urahara's. That's why they didn't tell him anything.

"How many?" Aracelis asked quietly, following Ulquiorra to Orihime's room so they could jump out the window to hopefully slip away unnoticed. She could only hear one extraordinarily loud hollow. Although, anything could be waiting outside, even Clematis herself, and she wouldn't know. A crash warned that Orihime already faced the noisy enemy.

"One here, a few in the distance," Ulquiorra answered, opening the window more forcefully than necessary. Ulquiorra's eyes narrowed as he hesitated a moment. "She didn't know where we were staying, as I believe Kurosaki is also under attack. Presumably, Urahara is as well." Clematis planned to flush them out of hiding. She likely sent dozens of hollows into the city to hunt any substantial spiritual pressures, or specific people Clematis thought would harbor them- so even a powerless Ichigo couldn't hide.

He crawled out the small window, gripping the edge before dropping to the ground. She bit her lip before doing the same, damn gigai's ankles feeling the shock. Ulquiorra steadied her for a moment, face devoid of expression as he focused on the situation.

"This way," he said, walking towards the street. After a second he glanced over his shoulder like he realized something. "Pull up your hood." She immediately did. Blue hair didn't exactly blend in like black. The gigais couldn't hide appearances from hollows Clematis likely showed mental pictures to. It's a good thing he noticed because she was far too busy trying to find hollows she couldn't sense.

They fast-walked in tense silence, eventually entering a busier area with more people walking to work or school. The crowd was completely oblivious to the horde of hollows flying overhead. Clematis had never been the sanest, but sending an army of hollows into Karakura like this after already having the Soul Society on edge… The local soul reaper was already running down the street like a police siren as he went to fight- or run; she couldn't tell. That other friend of Orihime's had apparently taken charge of hollow extermination anyway. The area would be swarming with soul reapers if the siege didn't end as quickly as it started, though. Clematis might actually get killed if she appeared while Ulquiorra and her were still hidden. What a pleasant thought.

A hollow landed on a nearby building, the wood and metal buckling under its weight, people screaming as they ran to avoid debris. Ulquiorra and Aracelis tried to calmly walk to the other side of the street while keeping their faces turned away from the hollow as it's large eyes scanned over the area. A screech made her fake heart leap to her throat, thinking it found them. Ulquiorra grabbed her wrist, gently pulling her along. The sound of it taking flight again calmed her, if only a bit. She hated not sensing them before they came into sight. Even if she trusted Ulquiorra to-

The _whoosh_ of sonido made her hair raise. Ulquiorra stopped walking, taking a slight step back and in front of Aracelis. She looked over his shoulder, eyebrows coming together. An Arrancar. She… she recognized this Arrancar. The startling orange eyes and half-mask covering their lower face…

While tense, Ulquiorra did not immediately attack his former servant. The Arrancar did not change their stance in anticipation of battle. Instead, they reached into their shirt, pulling out a small notebook and a pen.

" _Harribel had me watching Clematis."_ They wrote quickly in explanation. Aracelis _had_ wondered who survived the war, and if they were following Harribel as their new leader. And Harribel, unsurprisingly, had an eye on the weed. So much for her attempt to maintain peace with Clematis pulling this stunt. _"Urahara is the focus. Gillian targeting humans to distract. Arrancar with them. Said warn you not to go there,"_ they continued, pen scratching against paper hurriedly. _"Then I go help humans."_

Without further words, they used sonido again, unceremoniously disappearing. They weren't quite as polite now…

"Trustworthy?" she asked as Ulquiorra took to walking again.

"They already reached Orihime and appear to be helping her," he answered. He took an abrupt turn to avoid another shadow flying above, now heading the opposite direction of Urahara's. Then he already decided. Going to Urahara's now was no longer an option. Knowing Clematis, she had the hollows specifically targeting the weaker members of the shop to distract Urahara for as long as possible; she knew she wouldn't be able to fight him. With only a small window of opportunity, the question of when she planned her personal attack remained.

"Where are we going?" Aracelis already knew they would have to find somewhere to hide. The former servant found them incredibly fast, so a more intelligent hollow could do the same. Walking in the open bid disaster.

He never responded. His silence was far more meaningful, as it meant he had no idea either. Clematis could be almost anywhere, lurking in a Garganta. She had attacked Orihime before, and probably knew most of the city and hiding places too. Aracelis bit her lip, picking up her pace to match Ulquiorra's. After a few moments, they began running, following the humans as they fled from invisible forces crushing buildings and buckling pavement.

"There!" A low voice above them hissed, a horrific symphony of howls responding. Aracelis kept running as she looked up. A damn Adjuchas with lines of spiked plates and bear-like face stared down on them like ants.

Ulquiorra abruptly turned, his running much faster than hers as he began breaking the human façade. "Stay out of sight," he said as they ran down the path into the park, trees helping hide them from aerial view. The ground shook as hollows landed, indenting the earth with massive sets of claws and bulky bodies tearing through trees. They surrounded them, Aracelis noticed, feeling the quakes all around her. As Ulquiorra ordered, she picked a tree, quickly scaling it despite the bark cutting into her hands.

No sooner than that, the hollows advanced. The bear-faced Adjuchas ripped through the trees, glowing eyes searching, before it snarled, "Where's the other one?"

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes, raising a hand as the bear's mouth dropped open. As a red cero flared to life, a bala struck the bear, its face scorched, mask cracking before shattering. It howled in agony, thrashing, blindly running forward to crush Ulquiorra underfoot. Another of Ulquiorra's bala finished the creature.

More hollows replaced the defeated one.

Aracelis watched helplessly, fingernails digging into tree bark. Ulquiorra, he was trying to stay hidden by using bala instead of cero. Quick bursts of energy made it more difficult to detect exact location, but still. He had to fight in a restrictive gigai to hide the depth of his strength, or the Soul Society would be their next enemy. Engaging in battle, no matter when or who, would give them away. More hollows would arrive with every passing second. The possibility of soul reapers intervening increased with the number of hollows.

And she could do nothing to help. She cowered in a tree while he fought a hopeless battle. She was useless in this fake body, a danger to him and herself outside of it. Her teeth ground together painfully as she watched him dodge the sharpened claws of a leaping hollow as another tried to snap its jaw over his head.

A stray cero sliced through the ground next to her, the tree toppling as it uprooted. Aracelis jumped from the falling mess of branches, scurrying, staying low to the ground as she tried to avoid drawing attention. Ulquiorra's bala hit the ground a short distance from her to send up a small dirt cloud to conceal her. She ran, ran as fast as she could over uneven, battle-torn soil. The shadow of the next tree came into view. Her hand reached out to grab a lower branch.

"Hello~"

The sickly-sweet voice was followed by Aracelis being plucked from the ground, thorns digging into her sides as vines coiled around her. She tried to scream to Ulquiorra. A vine quickly covered her mouth, her teeth biting into it painful like it was made of rock. In less than half a second she found her back pressed against a body. Everything behind her was pitch black; they stood in a Garganta, Clematis attempting to hide her presence despite being in her resurrección.

"Aw, it's been so long!" she chirped, swaying while Aracelis struggled against the vines with incomprehensible insults. "I've missed you sooo much, Aracelis."

Her eyes widened as she squirmed harder. Thorns slashed open her skin, wounds not healing in the gigai. But she couldn't stay captured, not standing in a Garganta where Clematis could drag her to Hueco Mundo or read her memories to steal every scrap of information possible- if she hadn't already. She worked her arm free, blindly reaching back, nails striking the stone-like skin of Clematis's forehead. Her nails scraped downward, reaching her eyebrow, about to gouge into her eye.

"Oh my!" Clematis hummed, vine wrapping around Aracelis's wrist, snapping it. Aracelis bit down on the vine over her mouth, stifling a scream. These people and breaking her wrists… "Now, now. That wasn't very nice, trying to take my eye out. I need those." The vines around Aracelis's torso tightened, crushing her, fracturing bone. Blood dripped down her sides, her vision clouding with black spots. "If you're going to misbehave, you'll have to go to bed early."

Through the settling dust, she saw Ulquiorra. As her hearing began to fade, as her eyelids grew heavy, she deliriously thought, _I've never seen him so visibly livid before._

* * *

Ulquiorra saw Clematis crushing Aracelis from within a Garganta. That alone triggered a reaction; not some planned action, but a rash lashing out. His bala knocked away the two hollows intent on charging him. His other hand reached into his pocket. It took less than a second to accomplish, less than a second to potentially worsen everything.

He left his gigai.

The fake body fell backwards. He felt the lingering pain of incomplete organs as his feet dug into the ground. His hand found his sword, the hilt almost reassuring in its familiarity and power. Sonido landed him directly in front of Clematis, inside the Garganta, before she could even pull backwards. His sword easily sliced through the vines ensnaring Aracelis. He grabbed her just as Clematis's smile faded, as she raised masses of writhing vines to reach for him instead.

He caught the shirt collar of his gigai before it hit the ground. With both Aracelis and gigai in hand, he retreated a distance away, still hidden in the trees. He set Aracelis down gently. By then, his rational brain recognized he had released a large amount of spiritual pressure, and that he needed to re-enter the gigai immediately if there was any hope of the Soul Society not appearing in the next few minutes. Seeing as how he had already screwed up, he used the brief moment before combining back into the fake body to use pesquisa.

Urahara had begun his approach, still fighting Clematis's sudden army. This was no longer just the moth's soldiers; the number of Arrancar on top of the other ranks hinted at a sudden need for leadership in Hueco Mundo aside from Harribel- mere dissent from Harribel's rule didn't account for the hollows following another. Some of the hollows had also fled battle, not returning to Hueco Mundo, but just running away from Karakura. Clematis herself stayed hidden in Garganta.

Once he was back inside the gigai, he was at Aracelis's side. She remained unconscious. Her gigai had been so restrictive it disallowed regeneration, leaving her condition… dismal. Blood covered deep wounds wrapping her torso. Her breathing was labored; he feared she might have numerous broken ribs. Organ damage and internal bleeding were highly possible. As he considered his next actions, he wiped blood from her cheek.

He had two options; fetch Orihime or remove Aracelis from the gigai. Both options were rather difficult to accomplish given the situation. The path to Orihime remained surrounded by patrolling hollows, perhaps even Clematis if she opened a Garganta in the sky to relocate him- that is likely how she found them to begin with. Currently, Urahara would have to separate Aracelis from the gigai, the odd glove method Ulquiorra had used not enough to force separation given the added restrictions of her gigai. Reaching Urahara had the same issues as Orihime with the added risk of Mirro being conscious and panicked.

"Aw, did you try to run away?"

At the sound of her infuriating voice, he straightened his back, stiffly turning towards her, standing between her and Aracelis. He said nothing. There would be no preventing her from monologuing. In fact, if she became enthralled enough in her own voice, he could perhaps aim a bala directly into her head to permanently put an end to her. No matter what she said in hopes of taunting him, the worst had already happened. Aracelis's injuries hurt him more than anything the weed could say now.

"Are you ignoring me?" she whined, dramatically pouting before a grin split apart her face again. "Since you've been ignoring my attempts to get you back to Hueco Mundo, I suppose I'll give you a prerogative now. It's really simple, dear Ulquiorra."

Clematis remained guarded despite her theatrical posing. She left no openings, knowing that even in a gigai, one precise hit from him would kill her. It frustrated him, standing there, doing nothing as she stood mere feet away in the entrance of another Garganta, a barrage of violet ceros charged. Aracelis coughing between sharp breaths made his fist clench tightly, painted nails digging into his palm.

"That glare is oh-so intense today," Clematis said offhandedly, giggling to herself before continuing. Time was precious to her, considering that Urahara and Orihime were on their way. "Come back to Hueco Mundo. See? A simple, simple demand! I don't even care if you bring Aracelis or not." She tilted her head, grin fading, voice lowering. "Or, if you don't, I'll send hollows here until the Soul Society hunts you down. Do you know what they did with Dordoni? They made him their puppet." Anger crept into her voice, a rare hint to her attachment to her longtime allies. If he knew she wouldn't immediately fire a cero at him _and_ Aracelis, he might have taunted her about the mosquito. "I bet they'd love to have a little Espada to toy around with."

"Do you know how selfish you are?" she asked when his silence began to visibly irritate her. "You'd let soul reapers come after Aracelis instead of sacrificing yourself, wouldn't you? She doesn't need you anymore! You know that Urahara and Orihime can get rid of Mirro! Even I could now that _I_ told her her sword command! But you'd rather drag her down with you, wouldn't you? Like you always have?"

Ulquiorra thought her increasing anger at his failure to react was almost humorous. She didn't have his experiences since the last time she had the audacity to attack him, and what he told Aracelis had been severely lacking in detail. Aracelis might not need him, but she wanted him. Despite everything, she wanted to be with him. If he tried to go to Hueco Mundo alone, if he handed himself over to the Soul Society, she would find a way to come after him. He trusted her to recklessly reject him trying to sacrifice himself. He accepted that. In her position, he would be act the same. He would try to avoid such outcomes, even if they were the surest methods of protecting her from others, because her reaction would likely endanger her. She made it clear that she would be inconsolable if she lost him.

Banishing doubt had proven itself an effective weapon against the past, against Clematis.

"I see," Clematis said, voice flat and expression blanking. "You're very conceited, Ulquiorra. If you think you can somehow protect her, you're wrong. You've never-"

He immediately lost interest in the weed's babbling. Aracelis's coughing fit worsened, breathing now desperate gasps. He turned around, and saw blood running down her chin, bubbling up from her mouth. Clematis damaged her organs. In her current position, she very well could drown in her own blood.

A vine stabbed through his back and stomach in retribution. He had considered the consequences of turning away from the enemy. Briefly. Aracelis took precedence, of course. As suspected, Clematis retracted the vine, standing to gloat before perhaps debating if she should finish him off now or later. He had created an opportunity, although he underestimated how painful being run through felt in the gigai.

He whipped back around, cero searing through her right side, taking a mass of vines and her arm with it. The cero had been weaker than usual because of the gigai, aim off from the slight miscalculation of how much pain turning quickly would cause. Still, he had dealt her considerable damage not soon to heal. As he held a hand to the gaping wound, blood running between his fingers, Clematis hissed at her wounds, swaying as she grimaced.

A strained grin pulled across her face. "You can choose how you die. Just know that I hate you far more than I like Aracelis. If she's in the way, she'll be dead too." The Garganta began closing around her as she hastily retreated. "See you in Hueco Mundo, I hope," she tried to chirp, pain making her voice tremble.

With the weed chased off, he stumbled to Aracelis's side. He managed to get his free arm under her arms to sit her upright. He found no energy to move her further than that. He let his arm slip down, keeping it around her, positioning his hand to cover one of the worse gashes on her side. His wound seeped blood at an alarming rate; he was already beginning to feel cold and lightheaded.

Using a cero had been risky considering the energy output and strain of preforming one in the gigai, but it successfully got Clematis to leave a few minutes before he estimated for Orihime's arrival. And they both needed that woman's bizarre ability at the moment.

"Aracelis?" Ulquiorra knew he wouldn't be conscious for much longer if talking felt this tiring. He needed to stay awake though. Those idiots would try to heal him first.

She grumbled quietly, weakly. Then she spat blood all over his shirt. At least the gigai damped his sense of smell, or this would be unbearable. He hated the smell of her blood…

"If I lost you, I would be the same," he mumbled, now talking himself in hopes he wouldn't pass out. Or from pain-induced delirium. His vision kept trying to fade to black, blood loss making his entire body feel heavy. "As irrational as you make me, you also…" He couldn't put scattered thoughts into words. _Help_ , perhaps, being the closest generalization. "When you wake up, I do not expect you will allow me to go alone. I will still ask, but I already know… You would never accept that." He coughed a few times, laborious breathing making talking difficult. Maybe he would rest just a second…

The next thing he knew he heard voices, prompting him to force his eyes back open. Orihime ran towards them, clearly panicked, while Urahara and Tessai walked behind her, gauging the situation. Kurosaki was, thankfully, not with them. Ulquiorra didn't have the energy to deal with the boy right now.

"Oh no," Orihime whispered as she crouched down, taking in the puddle of blood beneath them both. She had been hurt in her own scuffle with the hollows, a bruise across her face, a few scrapes on her arms, but nothing serious; Ichigo might not kill him over leaving her to fight. He'd just complain endlessly.

"Aracelis first," he said, finding his voice too soft to sound authoritative.

"Ulquiorra, you're hurt worse. If you were human, you'd be…" Orihime ignored his glare, about to call forth her ability.

"Help Aracelis!" he snapped, immediately sending himself into a coughing fit now involving blood.

Orihime visibly startled at him shouting at her, leaning back, instinctually thinking he might lash out. "O-okay," she whispered after a moment of hesitation. Tessai joined her, helping her set Aracelis off to the side to begin her work properly. Ulquiorra missed Aracelis, his temperature seeming to drop several more degrees without her.

"I have to say, I didn't expect that Clematis to launch such an attack," Urahara commented as he came to stand by Ulquiorra. The humor in his tone grated on Ulquiorra's nerves. Aracelis was hurt. He wasn't in the mood for the soul reaper's quips. "I thought you said she wasn't very likable?"

"Something… in Hueco Mundo… changed," Ulquiorra said between breaths as his coughing subsided. He didn't have a conversation in him right now. "I… want to leave… the gigai. Heal me enough… just to do that." Tessai, having left Orihime to her work, kneeled to begin helping Ulquiorra.

Tessai nodded, agreeing with Ulquiorra without much fuss. "We will take you both back to the shop as soon as we are able," he added.

Outside of a gigai, the only place Ulquiorra could hide was in the shop's training ground. He'd have confronted Clematis there, in his resurrección, if it could have withstood it; even Las Noches crumbled with an Espada's release, the shop no match. Even outside his release, Clematis knew about the place from Orihime's memories, and would have forced him out by destroying the area. Thinking about this was infinitely better than considering the shameful fact he'd need to be carried to the shop…

He eventually stopped fighting unconsciousness. The physical pain was intense, he'd much rather be asleep while Urahara or Tessai carried him, and any plans he made while delirious would be suspect. And Aracelis, he trusted the woman would heal her injuries. Aracelis would be waiting for him when he woke back up, either awake herself or at least in better condition. Then they could plan their next move, together.

 _Together,_ Ulquiorra thought as he closed his eyes. He no longer hated that word. It sounded almost comforting again, instead of just painful.

* * *

 **Unfortunately, school is a thing again, and I'll probably go back to the two-week updates on the weekend to finish this up. I also, you know, don't want to rush these chapters considering their importance.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you cami3007 and WaterChestnut for following and/or favoriting!**

 **MorteSangriz- Poor Orihime and Ichigo have been mentally scarred, that's for sure:) Thank you for reviewing and I'm happy to see you're still around, enjoying the story!**

 **haipa-chan- I'm glad you liked the last two chapters! I wanted to at least touch on the sexual part of the relationship, since it sort of spiraled them into where they are now to begin with. Ichigo and Orihime, the poor, poor humans, scarred forever. I hope the return of plot went well, considering weedy stopped skulking to put on an elaborate show to deliver a tiny message. I'm glad ch52 was a good combo of tense and funny, since I wasn't sure about it. Ulquiorra's definitely not a people person; he's even less of a soul reaper person :) His list of people he tolerates is small indeed. Kind of happy you forgot about Rukia, though, since then it was more a silly surprise! (And moving, man, I can't even imagine how annoying that'd be.) Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **030artastic- Aw, I'm happy you like the progression of Aracelis's and Ulquiorra's relationship :) Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad to see you're still enjoying!**


	55. Chapter 55- In Love and War

Aracelis began to wake up, the familiar spark of panic rising as her brain started functioning. Her thoughts quickly jumped from being crushed by the annoying weed, to her not sensing Ulquiorra, to his stressful tendency to act without considering what she'd think. Leaving him with the weed while she was unconscious and injured, that might have invited disaster.

She worked her eyelids open, finally, finding an incredibly weird, and new, space above her. The sky reminded her of Las Noches's: fake. Beneath her back she felt solid ground, either dirt or rock. No Ulquiorra to be seen, of course.

"Try not to sit up too fast," Orihime's voice cautioned from somewhere just out of sight.

Aracelis took that as permission to move, sore arms pushing her aching body to a sitting position. She ignored the burning sensation gathering in her sides, ribs the definition of fractured, to look around. No Ulquiorra. The odd Las Noches feeling likely meant this was the training room under Urahara's shop, the location brought up a few times in the planning of a counterattack against Clematis- one of the things they guessed correctly: the weed hadn't been lured here.

Her arms almost gave out when she flinched. The slow reaction time of this gigai made sonido truly terrifying. Even if it allowed her to sigh in relief, showing Ulquiorra didn't make the decision to run off to do something stupid without her, sneaking up on her with sonido made her heart pound against aching bone.

Anything she wanted to say, the words caught in her throat. As Orihime casually stood and left the two of them, Ulquiorra sat on the ground next to her. She reached out since speaking failed her. He even leaned forward to accommodate her silly reaction. Her fingers traced over the green tear-mark once more running down his cheek, a smile growing on her face. His hollow form... She had missed it. The way his slit pupils widened when he saw her, the green of his irises bright against his stark white skin and pure black hair, she had missed his actual appearance so much more than she thought.

His eyes left hers, carefully looking her over, assessing her condition.

"I feel all right, things considered," she said to answer his unvoiced concern. "What… happened?" She seemed to ask that a lot… Especially when Clematis got involved in matters. "Why did you leave your gigai?" It might explain why they hid in the shop, among other reasons, but she didn't understand the necessity of it. He may have been forced to leave it to fight- he could have returned by now, though. He could have left it to heal faster if he had been injured. He also might have decided to leave it to go fight Clematis, assuming the wretched weed made one of her classic escapes after tearing Aracelis apart to distract him.

Instead of answering right away, he gently grabbed her hand, lifting it from his cheek. He kept her hand in his as his expression remained forcibly blanked.

"I'm not going to like what you're about say, am I?"

"I am going to Hueco Mundo to confront Clematis."

One sentence pieced everything together in an infuriatingly concise way. Her eyebrows came together, eyes narrowing into a frustrated glare. "You're not going alone," she demanded. "No. Not happening. You can't just leave me here while you go fight that psychotic weed and her army of idiots." With every word her voice rose, her anger cutting though any veneer of calm she could pretend existed. "I love you and you're not going to just… Just go get hurt and…" she trailed off as she saw his expression soften.

He tipped his head in a slight nod of understanding. "I know that is far from what you desire. If our roles were reversed, I believe I would feel the same."

For a few moments, she kept quiet, thinking over his words. He didn't often compare their roles, his limited sense of empathy and sympathy not quite enough to dissuade him from acting in what he considered a rational way. She didn't even have to argue with him, showing he must have been thinking about how she'd respond to him declaring he would face Clematis alone.

"You only asked on the off chance I'd willingly let you do something stupid," she concluded, trying to keep from smiling at his attempt to manipulate the situation in that Ulquiorra way of his. "Jerk," she muttered as he didn't deny the accusation. "But, if I go to Hueco Mundo with you…"

Leaving Clematis wasn't an option; she'd just return with more hollows or spur the Soul Society to action. If Aracelis stayed behind, odds were that Clematis would retreat from Hueco Mundo to attempt to use her as a bargaining chip; or, equally likely, she had an army waiting for an injured Ulquiorra, some trap in place to keep him from completely annihilating the weaker hollows in a second- if he used his resurrección to at least partially heal some of the residual damage from Ichigo. Yet, if she went along, she'd be an even worse liability. Maybe… maybe it would be better for him to-

Ulquiorra squeezed her hand, voice resolute as he said, "It is time to eliminate both Mirro and Clematis."

Her eyes widened at the prospect of killing the two hollows plaguing her.

He paused what he planned to say next, noticing a group gathering a distance away. Aracelis recognized most of them- Orihime, Ichigo, Urahara, and the other shop-keep- with the exception of a boy clad in white and wearing glasses. He seemed vaguely familiar, like she'd seen him at some point. The other mystery was why Ulquiorra's former servant -she needed a shorter name for them- stood among the usual group, it presumably hours after the clash with Clematis. That sparked curiosity, but she also knew they decided to speak out of earshot- whether on purpose or not, she didn't know. It's not like she trusted herself to walk that far with any amount of grace in her injured state.

"Once our wounds have adequately healed, we will go to Hueco Mundo," Ulquiorra finished, standing before taking a few steps closer to her.

Without needing to prompt him, he saw she wanted to be a part of the conversation, but unsure if she could follow. No longer fighting the limitations of a fake body, he easily picked her off the ground and carried her, a hand under her bent knees and the other supporting her back. Once at the edge of the small crowd, he patiently allowed her to get her feet under herself. But then he didn't step away. Instead of maintaining a level of disinterest to hide their closeness from the humans, he stood behind her, letting her lean into him, leaving a hand on her hip to keep her perfectly balanced. It was a level of intimacy she often didn't see in privacy, yet he decided he didn't care about reputations enough to let her struggle to stand as pain flickered between half-healed bones.

It also made it painfully obvious that he had something on his mind.

The questioning stares almost embarrassed her, yet like hell she would tell Ulquiorra to leave. Ichigo almost did a double take as he glanced at them between heated words with glasses' boy. And then glasses looked at them, confused, before he settled on a serious expression made sharp by the subtle glare he aimed at Ulquiorra- she assumed, since Ulquiorra had a way with humans. Orihime smiled before looking back to the Arrancar, asking them if they had a name- they didn't answer.

"Hey, glasses," Aracelis said, catching his attention. "Who are you?" Her voice held no defensiveness or hostility, just genuine curiosity. He had to be one of Orihime's friends, but she just couldn't find the name to connect to the face.

"Uryu Ishida," he answered, adjusting his glasses in such a way they caught light to hide his eyes.

She narrowly avoided laughing at how ridiculously nerdy the glasses adjustment was, nodding her head at connecting his face to the knowledge she had of him. As the one in charge of hollow hunting in Karakura, he had a reason to be here. "Any reason he's glaring at you, Ulquiorra?"

"We fought briefly above Las Noches." It clicked in Aracelis's head that this had been the boy clinging onto that monster's… Ichigo's… wrist when he attempted to finish off Ulquiorra. She owed him a bit of gratitude for that. "Although, I also remember saving the boy and Orihime from Kurosaki's hollow form," he added, hinting to Uryu to stop with the glaring.

"I know," Uryu said dryly, adjusting his glasses again. "That, and Orihime's insistence, are why I've left you two alone."

The boy would have continued if not for the Arrancar taking another step forward, calling attention to themselves. They had a very pronounced frown as they made a show of pulling out their notebook. The amount of sass, Aracelis seriously never guessed them to be so rude. Ulquiorra and Aizen must have scared the absolute hell out of them considering how polite and obedient they'd been in Las Noches.

"Okay now, everyone," Urahara interrupted cheerfully, flapping his fan in front of him. He seemed almost giddy for the Arrancar to share information. "Since we're all awake, let's see what they have to tell us."

They ignored Urahara, already scribbling in the notebook. _"A decent sized group of hollows were killed, Arrancar included. Harribel's investigation hasn't found the perpetrator, or any clues to what transpired. There is a split forming in our ranks. Those seeking protection have lost confidence in Harribel's ability, while those following her for her power are questioning her right to rule. It is similar to when Aizen began gathering his ranks. Clematis has convinced dissidents to her side, including Arrancar that remember her going against Ulquiorra and surviving. Harribel had me monitoring Clematis as she and the moth amassed their army."_

And, just like that, they closed their notebook. No waiting for questions or comments, they just walked off, opening a Garganta to disappear completely.

Aracelis quickly set aside the lack of manners to think about what they said. It explained Clematis's sudden army of relatively strong hollows; Ulquiorra's spats with Clematis weren't exactly well-kept secrets. Still, the hollows disappearing and the comparison to Aizen's taking control, she didn't know what to make of the that. It also didn't quite sound like their issue to deal with.

The humans and soul reapers seemed to agree the info sounded off, but had no explanation to offer. Urahara looked to Ulquiorra.

"It will not be a priority," Ulquiorra stated flatly before Urahara opened his mouth. Good. He didn't think it was their issue either. While they were in Hueco Mundo, if they happened across something odd, they could relay it to the curious soul reaper. Aracelis already knew they would be back to recover. Fighting Clematis and Mirro, they wouldn't escape unscathed. At least she wouldn't, considering her track record.

"Well, that's all I needed to do here," Uryu announced after a pause, turning around made dramatic by his outfit's small cape. "Just try not to have another army of hollows show up here."

"Whenever you're ready to leave," Urahara directed to Ulquiorra, voice somewhat more serious, "come up to the shop and we'll finish arranging everything. Your gigai should also be repaired in a couple of days."

"If you need a break, Orihime, I will be upstairs as well," the man with braided hair and glasses said- Aracelis recalled his name maybe starting with a T? There were just so many names to remember.

In any case, he followed Urahara, scaring the eavesdropping children out of hiding. He physically dragged the complaining red-head as he told him all the chores that needed to be done. She almost forgot how ridiculous all these people acted; then again, Las Noches hadn't been the place for goofing around. Look at former servant's actual personality.

With the group dwindling, Ulquiorra decided Aracelis had stood long enough, that she should return to being healed by Orihime. The human girl took a few steps forward to resume her work without being asked.

Ichigo held up the process.

"Hey," he called with an edge of irritation creeping into his voice. "Did you think I would forget what you did?" Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, eyes slipping into a glare directed at his favorite Espada. Aracelis sighed as she leaned back into Ulquiorra again, preparing for a conversation she had hoped had been taken care of while she was unconscious. "You left Orihime to battle those hollows just so you could get away," he accused, summing up the obvious.

"Ichigo, really, I'm all right." Orihime tried to reassure him, but earned only a glance before Ichigo returned his attention to Ulquiorra.

"It was necessary." Ulquiorra… Aracelis could almost hear the annoyance in his voice. Cold and blunt, the short response showed just how much he wanted to talk to Ichigo. Maybe they had this discussion already and Ichigo brought it back up. That would explain Ulquiorra's level of irritation.

"You know he's right," Aracelis added, deciding to rile Ichigo up more for the fun of it. "If we stayed, then some weak, mindless hollows would have been the least of her worries. You should be thanking us, really."

The red of Ichigo's face rivaled his bright hair.

"I agreed to the plan, Ichigo," Orihime cut in, voice calm and reassuring. "I'm fine, really. It's just a few scrapes and bruises." Her words only seemed to frustrate him more.

"I can't protect anyone like this," Ichigo muttered, redirecting his anger back at the source instead of Ulquiorra. He turned away, hands balled into tight fists. "It's almost been a year already. I can't stand that you guys are still getting hurt and that I can't do anything to help."

"Ichigo… I'm sure you'll get you're powers back somehow," an ever positive Orihime said, taking a step after him as he began walking away. She quickly looked over her shoulder, most likely noticing an offended Ulquiorra- Orihime had a job to do, and Ulquiorra wouldn't appreciate her running off to comfort an idiot. "Soten Kisshun," she called out, the sprites making up her ability staying behind as she ran to catch back up with the master of sulking.

Even if she understood the dismal feeling of being useless in battle, she didn't like that he treated Orihime like she couldn't fight at all. She had made it through an encounter with Clematis. She had _slapped_ Ulquiorra. Orihime didn't need to be treated like a child incapable of doing anything alone. She didn't need self-sacrificing protection from someone at the slightest hint of danger.

…

Aracelis noticed she might be comparing herself to the two humans. She decided to stop before she became more upset with her current situation- otherwise called a gigai. Right now, doubt was the last thing she needed to fall prey to. Facing Clematis and Mirro would mean having confidence in her own ability and trusting Ulquiorra to make the best decision for them both.

Ulquiorra helped her to the ground so she could sit crossed legged as Soten Kisshun returned to healing her wounds. He sat across from her, expression serious again as he shoved aside his human-induced annoyance.

They had plans to make.

* * *

The days passed by slowly as they recovered. The expanse of the training grounds was currently empty except for Ulquiorra and Aracelis, Orihime taking a break after her prolonged effort. A few more hours with the woman's ability, Ulquiorra gauged, would be all the time necessary for them both to be healed enough to take on the risky endeavor of killing Mirro and Clematis.

The decision of when rested with him.

Ulquiorra shifted, catching Aracelis's attention. She sat beside him, leaned against his side as she clutched his arm, a hand interlocked with his. Aracelis had already noticed his uneasiness, choosing to sit cuddling him until he finished mulling it over.

"Ulquiorra?" she asked, voice soft, concerned, and a tad annoyed. "Do you want to talk about it yet?"

Though he had avoided it for days, he knew from experience that it was better to discuss this now instead of later. Running away from it would only needlessly complicate matters. In fact, he had been dodging the subject for nearly a year at this point. Although, comparative to their lifespan, that was considerably short. Then again, that was another excuse.

"Do you love me, Aracelis?"

She stared at him, tilting her head, confused at him blurting out such a strange question. That might have also been the first time he said the word love aloud around her. "Yes," Aracelis said with matter-of-fact conviction, her bewilderment fading. "I love you, Ulquiorra."

His response came slowly. Hearing her tell him that, it still brought forth an odd feeling of satisfaction and relief- even in his hollow form. He felt his expression soften, not caring if his indifference melted away whenever he looked at her. This, this only proved to him he should try. "And what does that mean to you?" he asked, hoping her response could help him string together words more quickly. These emotions, he continued to struggle in identifying and naming them, especially as they blurred together in such foreign combinations.

"That's a complicated question I don't have an answer to," Aracelis sighed, leaning her head onto his shoulder. "I do know that you're the most important person in the world to me. Losing you would be like losing everything. I want you to be happy, too. Seeing you upset upsets me, especially when I don't know how to help." She paused, looking to her fingers laced with his. "I know that you'll try to understand me. Even if it's something silly and irrational, you'll try to understand, you'll try to help. I want to do the same for you. I want you to feel what I do whenever I think of you. I… I guess I want you to feel loved, since you make me feel like that even if…"

Her words trailed off, her hand gently squeezing his. _Even if you don't love me,_ had been what she couldn't force out. He could think of nothing else that would fill that morose silence as she sent her eyes downcast. It weighed on her heart. Now, now would be the best time. So, even if he felt unconvinced in his ability to say it with such conviction, with such emotion to match hers, he should try. He should try to understand, as she said, because it showed her he cared.

Ulquiorra shifted position, her head slipping from his shoulder, her fingers reluctantly releasing his. He turned to face her, seeing confusion across her face. When he took her hand again, raising her arm before twining his fingers with hers again, her expression flickered with hope as much as bewilderment.

"I understand, Aracelis. You are what I hold most dear. Even in Las Noches, I began to notice that I…" Ulquiorra paused, unsure which words he wanted, annoyed that he hesitated in telling her. He did not wish it to seem like he was hesitant to tell her his feelings. This was not the time for 'I think' or 'I believe' but rather for complete honesty. "I disliked your sadness. I see, now, that I wish for you to be happy. Your joy… makes me feel content in a manner I don't quite comprehend. I find comfort in your presence."

"Ulquiorra," she whispered, smiling that heartbreaking smile just for him. She felt content hearing the most miniscule of truths. She deserved more than that.

"Aracelis," he said, voice even and resolute, "I love you."

She stared at him first in complete shock, eyes wide, lips parted as words failed her. Then her expression came to include joy mixed with surprise. When a few tears slipped from her eyes, Ulquiorra was the one confused. She noticed, wiping the few drops from her face while laughing under her breath.

"I never thought you'd say that to me," she said quietly, smiling brightly. "I'm just…" she trailed off, too overcome with emotions to explain her happy tears. Instead she leaned forward, dropping his hand to embrace him, burying her face into his neck.

Ulquiorra slowly raised his arms to return her hug. "You are my heart, and have been for some time," he admitted in a whisper. When he laid dying, he had realized that. No matter how miraculous and illogical it sounded, he had gained a heart- or perhaps rediscovered it. Despite being a hollow, despite his own fears, despite his past… Despite everything, in the palm of his hand he held this strange yet splendid concept of heart. He refused to callously throw that away again.

He turned his face into her hair, guiltily adding, "I apologize for not admitting it sooner." He had known for some time that this was the only emotion that could be affixed to what they had. Instead of accepting that he could love, he had convinced himself that only the worthy could, that he didn't deserve such.

Eventually, Aracelis released him, sitting back after capturing his hand in hers again. She… she appeared incredibly content. She said nothing to refute his apology, accepting that he meant it even if she could reason away his hesitance. It was necessary for him so he could move beyond the uncertainty of relinquishing his perceived control and comfort in total indifference.

"I love you," he repeated, making a silent vow.

Never again would he lose someone he loved to the indifferent world that surrounded them. They would slaughter the obstacles in the way of this unlikely happiness that they had found amidst the darkness of Hueco Mundo.

This was the solemn promise of a damned soul who had found redemption.

* * *

 **55 chapters later, he** _ **finally**_ **says it. I hope the big moment went well enough, considering the wait (like, I'd feel really bad if I disappointed you all after waiting an eternity). Next up, of course, is the final showdown. And I estimate 1 or 2 regular chapters, a side story chapter thing, and then an epilogue til the absolute end. Bittersweet? Or a relieving** _ **finally its done**_ **? I haven't decided yet.**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to Maxxus Herald, livesinasong13, and ruins250 for favoriting and/or following!**

 **haipa-chan- Ah, Clematis. She's a weird combination of insane and vengeful. I plan on a side story chapter thing to hopefully show why she does what she does other than sheer insanity, since she has her own skewed sense of justice mixed into it. Also, it'll hopefully explain some of her hate for Ulquiorra** _ **not**_ **associated with Licidae's death. I'm always happy to hear she's a 'good' villain since she** _ **is**_ **a small-fry interfering and surviving an Espada's wrath. It's a precarious position considering miraculous escapes grow boring quick. And I hope Ulquiorra was just as cute this chapter :) He's come a long way from 'maybe I should kill her or let her get killed so I don't have to figure this out.' It's definitely the combo of school/work/time-consuming hobbies that's my issue :) I should be writing a case study, but here I am (and if not here than video games and anime). Procrastination! Anyway… Thank you for reviewing! I really,** _ **really**_ **appreciate your continued support!**


	56. Chapter 56- Unwilling Host

The garganta closed, darkness swallowing them. Aracelis found she could see less than usual in the precipice world, ominous black closing in on her from all sides. In a void, the lack of sight combined with silence broken only by light footsteps, made the trip eerier, adding to the building dread. She pressed her cheek against Ulquiorra's, his hair tickling her nose but comforting with his scent and nearness.

He had to carry her through the garganta. She had no spiritual pressure while in the gigai, leaving the fake body before entering Hueco Mundo needlessly reckless. Currently, she had her arms over his shoulders, her legs wrapped around his waist, while he assisted in keeping her from falling into the nothingness below. It reminded her of the walk back from the initial battle with Clematis, where everything simultaneously began to fall apart and come together. It caused her an uneasy sense of trepidation. This could be a turning point for better or worse, until death or for eternity.

They had said no true goodbyes to each other. They had every intention of returning together, anything less not an option. The only thing whispered between them before they parted from the human world was a simple, three-word phrase.

It would always elate her to hear him say he loved her. He broke her every expectation, saying he loved her and that _she_ was his heart. A turning point for him, she knew, but… The expression 'better late than never' tasted awfully bitter. If it ended here, without them being able to enjoy this new-found emotional intimacy, Aracelis felt icy sadness grip her fake heart at the thought alone.

And it _could_ end.

While planning this excursion, she had no delusions of it being an easy battle finished in seconds. From the beginning, they assumed Clematis would be waiting for them no matter where they decided to arrive in Hueco Mundo. Ulquiorra theorized that she had glanced into his memories and thoughts during their last confrontation, that she might be able to pick up his subconscious tendencies. She might have a list of locations they'd possibly appear, and be camped out with a horde of hollows, waiting. Or Clematis simply had astounding luck, while they had worse than poor luck.

They chose the tree as their arrival point instead of the lake- as that was Aracelis's only haunt outside of Las Noches. Close by the tree, as Aracelis suggested. Aracelis deferred to Ulquiorra. Clematis would assume Ulquiorra would wish to avoid damaging the tree further and pick a point at a distance. She would be less likely to guess what Aracelis thought up because her battle plans were, honestly, not as practical or tactical as Ulquiorra's. He agreed even if it put Segunda Etapa at risk should the tree be caught in the cross-fire. Without hesitation, Aracelis mentally added, happy that he chose her over an ability but also sad that he might lose it. He would still be powerful, of course, but after all the pain he went through to obtain it… She would feel even more guilty if he lost the ability she caused him to gain through suffering.

The darkness faded as the exit opened into the dim sky of Hueco Mundo. Aracelis turned her face from his, preparing for the moment he walked out of the garganta. It would be gruesome and painful, he had assured her. No sugar-coating that fact. Every bit of her concentration would have to be on resisting Mirro and staying conscious; she would have no time to consider the agony or their surroundings.

Ulquiorra landed in the sand a short distance from the tree, close enough that a stray cero could heavily damage the pitifully small mass of twisted, white branches beyond renewal.

As Aracelis released her hold to plant her feet on the ground, Ulquiorra said, "She is nearby with a number of hollows." He didn't sound relieved her plan worked, but she knew that it would still only be a matter of time. "We will have at most ten minutes." A very short matter of time, then. Not much time to essentially preform an odd, complex surgery with Urahara's eclectic inventions.

Aracelis nodded once he turned around to face her. She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat. Ulquiorra took a step forward, expression softening for a moment as he saw her obvious nerves. Instead of empty comforting words assuring her she would be fine, he remained quiet, closing the small distance between them. Aracelis met him as he leaned forward for one final kiss before the pain.

"I love you," he said again, the words firm and true, but clouded with the feeling of potential disaster. It sounded like a potential goodbye.

As his hand struck her chest, she mouthed the same back to him, taken off guard as a ripping sensation rippled out from her sternum. In a flicking light and a single blink, the painlessness of being forced from the gigai was lost.

" _Damn you all to hell!"_ Mirro screeched, following up with every cuss imaginable. He had been conscious the entire time, only silenced by the gigai. Although, even if he knew the plan, there wouldn't be much he could do to stop it now.

Aracelis wanted to clutch her head, tears forming in the corner of her eyes as her vision blurred, her head throbbing. The onslaught of pain knocked the breath out of her, coughing strangling the scream that had threatened to escape. Instead of desperately trying to stop the pain by holding herself, her left hand quickly pulled her sword out before Mirro could steal it.

The grip on her right arm tightened, Ulquiorra shattering every bone with resounding snaps, his fingers digging in to slash through muscle and ligament, all to momentarily slow Mirro. She barely felt it. The agonizing headache took unfortunate precedence.

" _Pass out! Pass out! Pass out, damn it!"_ Mirro hissed, every word drumming in her head, sharp pain shooting through her brain and down her spine. _"Drop the sword!"_ he screamed as her white-knuckle grip on the hilt refused to loosen. _"I'm not dying here!"_

Ulquiorra dislocated her shoulder with a horrendous pop, pulling her forward as her knees buckled. Through her dancing vision, she saw sand, the pain in her shoulder and head making it near impossible to feel anything else. Ulquiorra shoved her to the ground, knee digging into her back as he pinned her down. Mirro won control of her right side, him desperately kicking at the sand to shake Ulquiorra off.

Mirro's shouts became unintelligible shrieks, Aracelis barely aware she cried out with each of his ear-splitting screams. Time slowed to a crawl for her. Constant agonizing pain began to mix with a familiar searing sensation. It paralyzed her, held her to the ground like she had been slammed back down again and again, before sending muscles into sporadic and rapid twitches. A lightning strike.

Then she sensed _it_. Beneath the chaotic flaring of her spiritual pressure, another presence slowly seeped into her own. _Mirro's_ spiritual pressure.

That realization shot warm hope through her. If only a little longer, she could hold out until the end. She would be conscious. She could use her resurrección to heal the damage Mirro caused. She could help fight Clematis and her hollows without being a useless distraction.

"Damn it," Ulquiorra growled, voice concerningly loud and frustrated as he dropped her mangled arm before stabbing his sword into her shoulder. "Enclose, Murciélago."

The air was forced from her lungs as Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure showered down. Aracelis sputtered helplessly, choking on sand, the residual energy of even his first release too much for her while drained of energy and fighting a frantic Mirro. Ulquiorra's nails immediately resumed tearing her shoulder apart, repeatedly slicing as Mirro tried to fix the damage to remain in the relative safety of her body.

Something had gone wrong.

Ten minutes hadn't passed, perhaps not even five by Aracelis's poor estimation. Releasing more energy for Mirro to feed off had been a last resort if Clematis appeared sooner than planned. She'd arrived early. But how and why?

" _Bitch is still too damn slow to save you! Now fucking pass out, damn it! I NEED control NOW! Just fu-"_

His outburst was cut short as the searing pain spread throughout her, her brain and neck on fire. She heard and then felt her arm being ripped from the socket. A second hand peeled apart her shoulder. But, despite the severed limb, the flayed flesh, the pain... The pain began fading from her head, her body numbing. She couldn't feel _anything_ , her body dead, her lungs desperate for air as they stopped moving.

For a fractional second everything went silent. Everything around her ceased to exist. Her thoughts raced yet froze in a sea of static white.

The death-like calm shattered as an explosion tore through the air, a dust ring swelling outward before rushing back in hazy wave. Her neck refused to move to find the source. Instead, her eyes stared into the empty expanse of desert. She felt wholly disconnected from the surrounding sounds of sand cascading to the ground, unfamiliar gasps for air, and beating of wings to clear the dust. Just the vast nothingness of a bleak black sky and a horizon of white sand stared back at her.

With her last gasp of air and the silent prayer her hand still clutched her sword, she hoarsely whispered, "Purge, Libélula."

The sand stirred as a second wave of energy surged before rushing back to the source. Aracelis slowly regained feeling, lungs filling with air as they regained functionality. The moment she had sensation in her clawed fingers and newly regenerated arm, she pushed herself to her hands and knees. Removing Mirro had paralyzed her, she realized, staring at the ground in a daze. If she hadn't healed… She didn't feel as powerful as when she had fought Grimmjow either; between a starving Mirro and the damage he caused when forced out, she had lost a lot of energy. Even Ulquiorra's excess spiritual pressure that had lingered in the air had been depleted in her body's attempt to regenerate wounds and sustain her resurrección. A flaw in her ability… If she had no energy to begin with, she could barely keep in her release form. What a great time to learn that.

As the second cloud of dust was blown away with a powerful stroke of Ulquiorra's wings, Aracelis stiffly sat back, eyes staring forward. An Arrancar's silhouette lifted himself from the sand. He stood, two swords gripped tight in his hands as he turned to face them. Despite everything Mirro had done, the misery he caused, he didn't appear like a demon incarnate. To the contrary, he was rather plain and unremarkable. Dusty brown hair fell just short of his shoulders, a thin and tall body hidden beneath a plain white, Las Noches-issued uniform. Dark ochre eyes glared at her, his mouth hidden behind a tooth-lined, jaw-shaped, mask remnant. Boring, and disappointingly not the physically appalling monster she envisioned him to be. Even his dull appearance found a way to irritate her.

Overhead, behind where Mirro stood, a gigantic catfish hollow flew over the sand, it flanked by a swarm of weaker hollows. The fish opened its mouth to wail, the bellow shaking the air. It slowed its approach, fins beating in place to hover. On its back were three familiar hollows.

The blond bird, Geero, jumped off the fish, landing in the sand before screaming out, "Obscure, Torbellino!" Once in his resurrección, despite only having wings on one side of his body due to Aracelis's previous handiwork, he flapped wildly to create a whirlwind of sand soon to blanket the battlefield.

"You're such a dedicated strategist, Ulquiorra!" Clematis shouted to them, waving a few vines in a peppy greeting. She came prepared, already in her release form. She had less vines than Aracelis remembered; she concluded that that had been Ulquiorra's goodbye to her last time. "It made it so easy to guess where you'd show up if you decided to come visit! So cute that you'd chose here, with how intimately connected you are with the tree. Do you consider it homey, I wonder?" She smiled even when she was utterly ignored. The moth beside her seemed just as enthused with her ally's speech. "And you brought Aracelis too, I see! Hello!" Clematis waved again.

A red cero sliced through the air, missing Clematis and the catfish, but burning through a dozen hollows above them.

"Goddamn, you're even worse in person," Mirro muttered, voice as grating and irritating as ever. His glare was still focused on Ulquiorra and Aracelis, not leaving them an easy opening. He lowered his arm, redrawing his other sword after having put it away to silence the weed with an ill-aimed cero. He appeared to have more energy than Aracelis did. Mirro had had first dibs on Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure earlier. Bastard. "I'm going to eat you alive, bitch! This is all your damn fault," he added, Clematis's grin missed by him. Her giggles made his brow twitch, though.

Ellzea leapt from the catfish, rapidly fluttering her wings, shimmering toxic scales flooding the air. She opened her mouth, pink glow gathering. Vivid violet ceros formed at Clematis's vines as she left the catfish to dive for sand below. The gargantuan fish flopped around to create tidal waves of sand that rose several stories into the air, threatening to bury anything in range. Clematis planned to use cover for the weaker hollows to attack from; her only tactic, considering the differences in power.

Aracelis's daze cleared with the chaos of battle erupting around her. She stood up, back of her hand batting away Ellzea's distance-weakened cero with just a painless scorch mark left behind. She watched as Ulquiorra stepped into sight, his eyes narrowed. Mirro used sonido to attack and devour the weaker hollows swarming as a sandstorm overtook the battlefield.

Aracelis couldn't help staring at Ulquiorra as he calmly passed by her. A macabre display of what it took to separate Mirro from her, Ulquiorra was drenched in her blood, red covering his hands and forearms, bright splatters across his face and torso. He must have hated every moment it had taken…

"Kill everything," he ordered, neglecting naming a specific target. They would kill whoever gave them the opportunity, together or alone. He just wanted them dead. She agreed with that sentiment, the only one she wanted to skin alive with Ulquiorra's help being Mirro. Ulquiorra took to the air to fight above the sand cloud. Her pesquisa didn't miss several leftover Arrancar recklessly following him, nor the flashes of violet aimed for him. She didn't even get to enjoy the return of her powers in this situation…

Aracelis gave a testing flap of her own wings, flexing her clawed fingers, and swishing her bladed tail behind her, confirming her body would hold up through the rigors of battle. She had enough energy for basic attacks and minor regeneration, things like ceros and bala more suspect; she had perhaps one decent Gran Rey she could fire before even her normal ceros weakened considerably.

She had two targets in mind that deserved a Gran Rey to the face.

Before she had a chance to take care of the irritating sand-throwers, a pink cero cleared the air around her. She didn't see the moth. Aracelis jumped up the second she sensed that Ellzea had burrowed underground, her blood boiling that the moth thought the same trick would work on her a second time. Ellzea popped out of the sand, snarling as she repeatedly slashed poison-covered claws. Weaving between hits was simple, Aracelis still enjoying the maneuverability her wings gave her.

"Didn't I destroy one of your wings?" Aracelis asked just to get on the moth's nerves. She had some very subpar regeneration if it took this long to fix. The comment seemed to make Ellzea's already sloppy attacks more chaotic and easier to dodge. "Like I did your face?" That definitely didn't heal.

"SHUT UP!" Ellzea's mouth gaped as another cero gathered and fired.

Aracelis shot upwards, the moth's cero cutting through the sand. Ellzea quickly rushed for her again, beating her wings to choke the air with toxins. It became a lazy game of tag when Aracelis ignored the clumsy attacks, using the time to find more dangerous enemies than the overemotional moth.

A violet cero caught the skin of her arm as she moved last second. Aracelis traced the path to Clematis, who still chose to suspend herself in the air, several ceros charged and ready. She fired another into the sandstorm, this one for Mirro. The damn opportunist would attack any one of them given the chance.

Aracelis focused to find Ulquiorra. He was busy chasing Mirro through the sandstorm. Mirro's spiritual pressure would fade entirely before spiking as he aimed ceros at Ulquiorra or sliced through hollow fodder to eat and regain lost strength. Mirro happened to be the second strongest hollow there, currently, Aracelis irritatingly third because of the energy he stole when leaving her.

She would go after Clematis and the other, lesser distractions. If she could take them all out in one decisive blow, eat a few to absorb some energy, then Ulquiorra and her could chase Mirro down, slowly kill him after inflicting hundreds of wounds. And that, that was exactly how she wanted that bastard to die.

Aracelis decided the moth, bird, and fish would be the first to go.

In the obscuring white, with the sound of a hollow's dying scream, came two words that chilled Aracelis to her core: _Subjugate, Sanguijuela._ Following the angry roar of his sword command, his energy shifted, intensifying, releasing traces of different spiritual pressures, namely her own. A thinning of the dust allowed her a glimpse as Mirro's form shifted with his resurrección. His lower body became serpent-like, the top covered in thick plates while the bottom appeared to be hierro-enforced hide. Hands were replaced with sickle-like growths sharpened to blades. And, now prominently sat upon his head, was a skull helm; the exact same as the one that formerly sprouted from her shoulder.

His eyes met hers as the dust clogged the air once more.

She felt panic rise in her chest despite herself. Aracelis shot upwards, seeking the clarity above the storm. Uncertainty in his capabilities outside her body sent the chill of fear through her, followed by burning hate. After so long being tormented by him, her reaction to avoid his promised threats had become instantaneous.

Within a single beat of her wings she saw the air shift, felt his spiritual pressure dart upwards with speed nearing her own. With wide eyes, she looked down in time to see Mirro keeping pace with her sonido.

"You're not getting away from me again!" he snarled, sickle-bladed arm lashing out for her leg. He wanted back into her body. Now. "You're mi-"

Violet flooded her vision, the blast sending her through the air a few feet before the surprise wore off. Mirro screeched in anger as he caught himself, burnt skin regenerating as he glared through the brief clearing in the sandstorm. Clematis grinned up at him, now below them, already firing another cero.

"That's it," Mirro hissed, snake body contorting out of the way of the blast. He pulled back his arm, teeth bared in frustration.

Clematis's eyes became saucers. She reacted with true fear and reckless abandon. A vine fired a cero into the sand to mask her movement, but failed; she could still easily be seen and sensed from above. Another cero incinerated a hollow in her path. Clematis used sonido, leaping the catfish as it crashed into the ground, it pausing before it flung itself back into the air. With the vines on her head still visible above the fish, Mirro's attack sliced through the air.

A variant cero or bala, Aracelis had reasoned a time ago. The red energy swept over a large area, crescent-shaped, thinning and lengthening over the distance, but losing power quickly. It rendered the catfish's flesh, guts spilling, blood pouring from the near-complete split in its body.

Aracelis felt angry heat rise to her face as her teeth ground together. That was _her_ technique and she couldn't use it right now because _Mirro_ stole too much of her energy! Their abilities, she concluded, were eerily similar; Mirro made her an improved version of himself over the years. Being crafted into something like him _by him_ , made her blood lava- even if she did like her ability, his part in it pissed her off.

Ulquiorra lunged for Mirro, a tangle of dead Arrancar falling to the ground in bloodied chunks. They had been momentarily keeping him from parasite bastard, and his irritation showed in his overly violent kills. Mirro shot a cero before diving downward to the protection-for-the-weak sandstorm. They would continue to fight below, Mirro most likely dodging and hiding like the wimp he remained. Even being the hollow in the best physical condition, minimally injured at the start of the fight, he fought like a coward. She imagined the bastard inwardly screaming in terror every moment he was without his infinite source of food.

She bit back a frustrated scream, growling instead, using sonido to dice several unlucky hollows on her path to Geero. She took bites of disgusting flesh, taking note that it had helped Mirro- she'd show him how superior she was even if they did have the same abilities.

After the dust cloud dissipated with Geero's demise, she would finish the pitiful moth, then pull every limb from Clematis, and finally, with all her pent-up rage and hate, kill Mirro in the most excruciating manner she could. This was revenge, retribution for all his interference in her life _and_ afterlife.

* * *

Ulquiorra knocked away another of Clematis's ceros, annoyed that she gave Mirro the opportunity to burrow into the sand again. Mirro turned out to be a decently skilled hollow, his ability to regenerate outmatching Aracelis's, his speed respectable in short bursts, and his hierro functional. He still paled in comparison to Aracelis at her full strength, but, right now, Ulquiorra found the parasite irritating in his will to survive. The creature could fluctuate his spiritual pressure quickly, hiding in the sandstorm or underground without a trace of his presence- yet his anger and desire to retake Aracelis kept him from fleeing entirely. While Mirro hid underground, Clematis targeted Ulquiorra. That often gave Mirro the opportunity to attack without worry of Clematis or Ulquiorra striking him immediately.

The circumstantial stalemate would end as soon as Aracelis had the opportunity to clear the storm; he could sense her pushing Clematis and Ellzea towards Geero, in the opposite direction of the tree. Once she was in position, he expected a spectacular end to the three. Then she could join him in disposing of Mirro.

"Bastard!" Mirro screamed as he emerged from the sand, cero charging at the tip of one blade. The red charge cut through the sand as Ulquiorra stepped out of the way. Another cero fired, Ulquiorra dodging by jumping into the air. "This is all you're fucking fault! I'll kill her, and then you! I'll eat you both!"

Ulquiorra didn't respond, nearing boredom with Mirro's outbursts. The entire battle, Mirro cursed his name and existence innumerable times. It bothered him that Aracelis had to deal with Mirro's abuse for centuries if mere minutes were this tiresome.

"What's so important about that whore?" Mirro hissed, changing tactics, knowing insulting Aracelis bother him more than nonsensical shouting.

A series of bala exploded around Ulquiorra, his sonido and wings outpacing the blasts. When he slowed, Mirro sprung up, slashing an arm, energy wave creating a sonic boom. He considered dodging before remembering the tree. Ulquiorra used a bala to shatter the attack. Fighting here of all the places in Hueco Mundo, only Aracelis would have chosen it. Her plan would have worked well if Clematis hadn't found another creature to transport her.

"Why the hell would you put up with all her bullshit? You seriously can't love her!" Mirro returned to rotating rounds of bala and cero, aiming for Ulquiorra's face in his rage, missing every single time. Was he even serious about this battle, Ulquiorra began to question. "You're hollows! That's ridiculous! I thought you were smarter than to believe in that shit! To think I'd wanted to change hosts to you at some point!"

Mirro tore into a hollow disoriented by the whirling sand, his face and neck already stained with blood from his previous meals. Maintaining his resurrección outside a host appeared to drain his energy quickly. Ulquiorra wondered how soon Mirro would starve if he had no secondary source to feed from; with near morbid curiosity, he wanted to find out, knowing the maddening feeling hunger brought on. In someone gluttonous like Mirro, that would be truly torturous. Ulquiorra already knew Aracelis would approve of such an experiment. She had made her stance on how she wished Mirro to die very clear, not sparing any description of gore in a moment of rage.

"Stop fucking ignoring me!" Mirro's face contorted to bare his teeth, eyes severely narrowed. "I know you're pissed off, so don't act like you're calm! You tried to kill yourself for this bitch! Do you know how damn annoying she got because she missed your pathetic self? How many times she considered throwing herself in that lake?"

That struck a nerve. Lie or truth, Mirro brought up very sore subjects. Ulquiorra raised a hand, jaw tight, eyes narrowed.

A cero smashed into the side of his head. Violet overtook his vision as he heard a sonic boom slicing air. The tree was still behind him, in the line of fire, narrowing his options. Mirro had noticed him protecting the tree, then. He hoped to use Clematis's distraction to land a crippling hit should Ulquiorra chose to save the tree.

Ulquiorra wouldn't allow for it. The two couldn't win with such petty schemes.

He curled his wings around himself. He felt the attack slam into him, push him through the air before it fizzled out with distance- a point-blank hit would be more damaging, he noted. The skin of his wings burned away, his clothes left scorched, the reek of dried blood burning inciting a flicker of anger- and he _hated_ that emotion almost as much as the smell of Aracelis's blood. He didn't feel any pain. His hollow form offered him that luxury, compared to that ridiculous gigai.

Immediately the wounds closed, his regeneration more than capable of healing such thin skin without much effort. He held back on ceros to this point for the sole purpose of regeneration while stalling for time. When only Mirro remained, both he and Aracelis would kill Mirro slowly. It had been her desire. She wished revenge for all the suffering he caused, but not over the span of centuries. Her compromise was to draw out his death, make it as painful as possible for the creature so terrified of existing without the protection of a host. Ulquiorra had no qualms with this method.

Having already separated Mirro from her, Ulquiorra felt fairly confident in their ability to win the battle without further hassle.

"Damn it," Mirro cussed under his breath, seeing the ineffectiveness of his attack. "You _are_ just screwing with me."

It took him a foolishly long time to recognize that fact. In a rare change, Ulquiorra had acted as a distraction. He wanted them dead, yes, but watching Aracelis kill them would be just as satisfying as doing it himself. So, he waited for her.

"Hear that, Clematis?" Mirro yelled, eyes darting to where she'd last fired a cero. "We can fight it out later if you help me kill Aracelis and Ulquiorra. I definitely still want words with you for all your bullshit."

"How desperate, bargaining with her," Ulquiorra commented, his voice enough to make Mirro growl. Clematis giggled madly, making Ulquiorra nearly regret antagonizing Mirro; such an awful sound, her high voice. "Are you that afraid of death that you've forgone your conceited pride?"

"Both of you shut-"

An explosion overhead drowned out Mirro's yell, the sky alight with blue. A Gran Rey Cero crashed into the ground, the bird incinerated as the remnants of his sandstorm were blasted aside. Everything in the cero's path burned to ash, dozens of weaker hollows' dying howls blending with the concussive explosion. The moth fell to the sand, her body once more blistering with severe burns. Clematis stared on with mild terror, several of her vines severed and spewing blood, her own ceros having backfired under the pressure of Aracelis's- and what a display it had been, as he would never tire of seeing Aracelis destroy numerous hollows in a single, excessive strike.

Aracelis joined Ulquiorra, hovering by his side as she kept her eyes locked on Clematis. Mirro had scrambled to hide underground as soon as he saw the blast's glow, terrified that it may have been aimed at him. Ulquiorra watched for the parasite to reappear above ground.

"I have one more Gran Rey in me," Aracelis reported, her voice filled with held-back venom. She sounded on the edge of a rage-filled rampage; rightly so, considering the nuisances their enemies could be despite the gap in power. "It'll probably be the last of my energy attacks if I use it, though. Parasite bastard took so much I can't even kill him with his own technique," she muttered bitterly.

"Then tear them apart with your claws," he suggested, eyes scanning the sand for any movement. Mirro had restrained his spiritual pressure again; he should escape, but his possessiveness and pride would most likely keep him from doing the intelligent thing. Another strike seemed imminent. "Or, perhaps, use bala to crush their bones so they cannot run away."

She gave a single laugh. Her attention remained on Clematis, the weed charging a few more ceros while hitching a ride on an Adjuchas that survived the blast. The weed wore a now grim expression, her eyes shifting between Aracelis and him to her fallen ally. She seemed distressed as the moth clung to life through spite alone. A few more minutes, and she would die as well. Clematis would be furious at the loss of another ally, he presumed. The weed would be reckless in her revenge.

Movement near Ellzea drew all eyes.

Mirro burst from the sand, his body glowing before his form shifted. He became white, crackling light, like when Ulquiorra pulled him from Aracelis's body. The moth looked up, eyes widening as the energy rose above her. Thunder rang out as Mirro's bolt-like form struck Ellzea in the center of her chest. Her body spasmed as her face was forced into the sand.

The energy quelled, Ellzea's spiritual pressure shifting, strengthening. Slowly, she stood, expression unusually blank. Her wounds spontaneously regenerated, leaving her in better condition than when the battle started. Poison dripped from her claws to hit the sand, disintegrating it on contact with a wisp of steam. A beat of her wings sent out toxins, polluting the air around her like a shield. A scar radiated out from a skull growth now on her chest. Her eyes were vacant with death.

Aracelis edged closer to Ulquiorra. She understood the complication that came with this development. If Ellzea's poison had been capable of interrupting her regeneration, then he was at risk as well. And, with Mirro in control of that ability, the moth became more threatening. Paired with the fact Mirro could also regenerate her body… This was more cause for concern than Mirro and Ellzea acting alone.

"Well, this will work." Mirro spoke through Ellzea's corpse, holding her poison-coated hand in front of him, watching as acidic poison dripped to the ground to melt sand. He looked up, twisting Ellzea's horror stricken face into a wild grin. "Liquefying you will be better than dismembering you!"

"Oh dear," Clematis mumbled with slight concern infecting her cheery tone.

* * *

 **And one more chapter of regular story remains! I decided to stop here, since it seemed a nice place- a very bleach-esque cliff hanger-, and I have a lot of homework that'd kill editing time if I chose to continue. How will it end? I'll definitely leave that for speculation. Hopefully satisfying, though.**

 **I will upload a sketch of Mirro to deviantart soon, since he's made his physical debut.**

 **Thank you all for reading, following, and favoriting! Seriously, it means so much to me to see how many people have read my work over these years!**

 **MorteSangriz- I am so,** _ **so**_ **happy you've enjoyed the ride! I'm glad that despite the length it has been interesting, the chapters flying by, and that you kept reading! Just when they've found the meaning of the heart, they confront their enemies; definitely not saying how it ends yet, since I can be a cruel author when I want :) Hope to keep you anxious before hopefully delivering a satisfying end to such a long story! You've been around for over a year now, I think, and I'd just like to say thank you again for reading and reviewing!**


	57. Chapter 57- Insult to Injury

"Oh dear," Clematis mumbled with slight concern infecting her cheery tone. "I didn't quite consider this…" she whispered to herself, thinking aloud as Mirro fluttered Ellzea's wings to shroud himself in more toxins. "Ulquiorra, Aracelis, would you mind a momentary truce?"

"Like hell," Aracelis eloquently snapped before Ulquiorra could. She didn't even glace at the weed, not allowing herself to be distracted in front of this more dangerous Mirro. "I don't care if you get melted! I might actually like to see that!"

"So cruel!" Clematis screamed dramatically, voice raising higher when Mirro tore his attention away from testing his new body.

The moment of calm broke with the blare of a pink cero.

Mirro followed the cero, launching himself for Aracelis, claws dripping with poison from his outstretched hand. Ulquiorra met him instead, wing smashing into Mirro's side to send him flying backwards. Ulquiorra saw a violet glow to his side. Aracelis growled as she knocked away Clematis's cero, aimed at him as he dealt with the more dangerous foe in true Clematis fashion.

"So much for that truce!" Aracelis hissed, figure blurring with sonido. Her foot connected with Clematis's formerly grinning face, cracking her mask, the weed summersaulting limply through the sand.

Acrid air hit Ulquiorra's senses. He whipped around, flapping a wing before he breathed in more toxins. Mirro slashed his claws as Ulquiorra's wing refolded, catching the edge, flesh and bone melting instantly. Ulquiorra used sonido to move away. Immediately his nails sliced through his wing as the wound festered, spreading faster than he anticipated. Combining with Ellzea had even enhanced her natural ability.

"That wasn't very nice! I was trying to help, I swear!" Clematis complained, likely with a pout, as her Adjuchas plucked her out of the sand.

"Shut up!" Mirro and Aracelis snapped.

Aracelis glared at Mirro, irritated that they copied each other even now that they were separated. Before she could scream at Mirro, or launch an attack at him, Clematis fired another cero at Ulquiorra. Aracelis wordlessly swatted it away, turning her attention to the weed to show she had chosen who she wanted to disable first. Ulquiorra didn't say anything to the contrary, knowing he could withstand a few more hits from Mirro with little consequence; he would weaken the parasite until Clematis was silenced.

Mirro hissed before firing another cero, using the flash to charge forward, intent on attacking Ulquiorra with regeneration-stopping poison while he had the opportunity. As it stood, without Segunda Etapa, Aracelis had the better regeneration between the two of them. Wasting energy slicing apart Aracelis only for her to heal would be pointless. This would be Mirro's only opportunity to engage Ulquiorra on more even grounds; once Aracelis joined him, Mirro would be outmatched.

"What if I help?" Clematis chimed in _again._ She knew that her regeneration wouldn't keep up with the poison, and losing a large number of vines wasn't a viable option for her. "His use of Ellzea's body will be temporary! He will burn through her energy rather quickly!"

Ulquiorra aimed a bala behind him, towards the pleading weed. She screamed. Ulquiorra risked glancing away from Mirro to see he had severed a bundle of vines and killed the hollow she rode. Aracelis quickly followed up, her foot digging into Clematis's back, forcing the air out of her as she crashed into the sand a second time. Clematis fired all her ceros at Aracelis as she scrambled to her feet.

"I was only trying to help!" Clematis pouted with indignance, charging more ceros as her eyes narrowed at Aracelis.

Claws slashed in front of his face. Ulquiorra held his breath as his wings carried him backwards. Mirro pursued.

"This is where you die, you pathetic excuse for a hollow!" Mirro shouted as he fired a barrage of ceros in such quick succession they almost blurred into one continuous beam.

Mirro's arm shattered and tore, hanging by skin. He calmly pulled it off and tossed it aside, continuing to fire ceros without pause. The arm regenerated in seconds, showing that firing bala into Mirro would be a waste of Ulquiorra's time and energy. More precision would be necessary.

Ulquiorra used sonido to weave between the explosions. The ceros were too powerful to merely smack aside like Clematis's. Mirro showed no restraint, firing wildly, releasing more toxic scales into the air. He planned to lead them into the poisonous cloud around him, force them to inhale to liquify organs that wouldn't regenerate like skin and limbs. Attacking him would mean suffering collateral damage. A fatal wound would be difficult to inflict with his regeneration. His positioning on Ellzea's body protected him as long as his guard was up.

Mirro had found an unlikely fortress in a corpse.

Another bombardment colored the sky of Hueco Mundo. The longer the battle dragged on, the less energy Mirro would have, but the more likely Ulquiorra, Aracelis, and the tree would suffer damage.

"How's it feel to be cornered!?" Mirro cackled between ceros, Ellzea's face screwed into an exuberant, taunting grin. "This is for all the damn times I had to hear her fantasize about you!"

Mirro shot forward, poison doused claws outstretched, whirlwind of toxins surrounding him. Ulquiorra pulled back. A charge crackled around his hand as he aimed for the skull growth on Ellzea's chest, time slowed with concentration and experience.

Then Mirro flapped his wings.

Mirro switched directions with a single stroke of his borrowed wings. Ulquiorra's eyes followed the trajectory, pupils constricting as sharpened nails met bone plating. Mirro's hand wrapped around Aracelis's wrist, her skin bubbling before falling away from bone. Her jaw clenched to hold back a scream, eyes frightened. Ulquiorra raised his hand without apprehension, pointing, green glow intensifying. Clematis threw herself at Aracelis, a vine wrapping around her ankle to pull Aracelis aside as she ripped her festering arm off at the shoulder.

Mirro retreated as the cero tore through his arm. Aracelis kicked free of Clematis as the weed's hold remained. Her arm regenerated, the abandoned limb liquid before it hit the sands below. She mouthed "I'm fine," to him as they listened to Mirro mindlessly laughing in satisfaction.

Ulquiorra looked back to Mirro, eyes narrowing fractionally. More strikes like that, and she wouldn't be fine. Mirro had also recovered in seconds, even one of Ulquiorra's ceros not enough to incinerate limbs beyond regeneration. This only provided further inconvenience considering how much a single cero drained him; he had to be selective, not swayed by half-hearted threats to Aracelis's safety. He no longer knew what it was like to fight without her being a hostage at Mirro's hands. She could withstand a few lost limbs. Protecting her would only be necessary if Mirro aimed for her torso and face.

He prepared for the next bout of attacks. Aracelis returned her attention to Clematis when she fired another cero at her, the weed further antagonizing Aracelis with a cheerful grin.

* * *

Aracelis took a step towards Clematis, crushing a violet cero in her clawed fingers.

"Why?" Aracelis growled through her teeth.

Clematis smiled knowingly while refusing to answer. She fired another two ceros, one for Aracelis, the other for Mirro as he dived at Ulquiorra.

"Why do you keep acting like you're protecting me?" she finally screamed, no longer able to hold it in. Pulling her out of the way of Ulquiorra's cero and away from Mirro, why? She didn't understand why the plant kept dancing between wanting her dead or alive. It drove her insane! With today bringing Clematis's demise, she needed an answer now or never. "What the hell is your problem!?"

Clematis grinned even as Aracelis's foot collided with her side, a few ribs audibly snapping before Clematis flew through the air. She landed with a dull thud in a pile of vines, sand, and laughter. "I've told you before, dear Aracelis!" Clematis chirped, smile on her face growing wicked, blood running down her cheek from her cracked mask. "I happen to like you. In fact, I would love for this battle to end with us alive."

Aracelis bit back a frustrated shout. She already knew Clematis hoped Mirro and Ulquiorra would somehow kill each other. And all she did, it certainly didn't equate to 'liking' her as she so often claimed. "I still don't get it," Aracelis said firmly, eyes darting between Clematis and Mirro. She didn't want a repeat. Slicing off limbs to prevent poison from spreading to vitals was not the best strategy. Once she knew Mirro wouldn't be at her back, arm stabbed through her, she would kill Clematis. Or at least severely injure her for further questioning after Mirro was reduced to a puddle of gore.

"You don't?" Clematis tilted her head to the side. "I want justice." She spoke condescendingly, treating Aracelis like a stubborn child. "I want Mirro and Ulquiorra dead for the suffering they've caused as both humans and hollows. You should be happy, considering all the pain they've caused you. No one else is doing anything, either, so I have to bring justice myself." She rocked back on her heels in consideration ending with a pout. "If you happen to die, well, that would be unfortunate, but for the greater good, I suppose."

"That doesn't even make sense!" Aracelis yelled as she used sonido to dodge a stray cero from Mirro- who fired with blind rage at Ulquiorra. Rambling about justice for Aracelis while trying to kill Ulquiorra, someone Aracelis loved and had been with through hell and back, there was _nothing_ rational about it. Clematis was a sociopath. "I never asked you to get _justice_ for me!"

Clematis's grin wavered. She fell silent, eyes boring into Aracelis's with… With recognition? Aracelis couldn't read the emotion that flickered across Clematis's face. Not until the near confusion changed to certain hatred.

"I did this to help you!" Clematis exploded, voice raised with unfounded anger, releasing all her ceros at Aracelis.

Clematis used sonido as Aracelis lazily dodged, catching her off guard. Her vines wrapped around Aracelis's arm, sending her into darkness. Clematis showed no memories. Her ability blanked out the chaos of battle entirely, her rage creeping into the nothingness.

"You were too weak to fight back yourself, so I decided to find you justice! And now you're saying I was wrong?" Clematis shrieked, convincing Aracelis that the weed had finally lost her last scarp of sanity. "I was wrong to help you realize that Mirro had killed you and dragged your soul to a fate worse than death? I was wrong to step in when you convinced yourself to be miserable at Ulquiorra's side, hiding your feelings? I was wrong in showing Ulquiorra that he'd lose you by holding you at a distance?"

"Yes, you were!"

While Clematis pushed them to this conclusion, her methods had been unnecessarily cruel and bizarre. Attacking them again and again, deliberately traumatizing and provoking them, nothing about that could be called _helping,_ let alone justice. It was selfish manipulation. Clematis, whatever ideal she sought, she had forced it onto Aracelis's cause, deliberately ignoring any of Aracelis's wishes that contradicted her own. Clematis only acted towards fulfilling her own desire for revenge against what she deemed wrong. Anything, or anyone, caught in the middle didn't matter as long as she found _her_ ideal.

"You're just as wrong as Mirro!" Aracelis mentally screamed into the void.

Everything lit up in a disorienting wave of white. Wind whipped Aracelis's hair and clothes, momentum flinging her through the air. Clematis threw her, she realized. She blinked desperately to regain vision, stiffened her wings to slow down, protectively held her arms in front of her face, but nothing could save her from it.

Choking air burned her throat.

* * *

Ulquiorra clenched his jaw as Clematis's vines wrapped around Aracelis, the weed sent into some sort of rage by Aracelis's words. Mirro didn't allow him to divide his attention, blasting ceros before rushing forward in a toxic cloud, forcing Ulquiorra on the defensive. Any damage Mirro received regenerated, only slowing a fractional second even after repeated injuries.

Mirro lashed out again, face screwed into a maniac grin. Ulquiorra's wing smacked Mirro to the side as he dodged a relatively lazy attack from the parasite.

Bala rang out as Ulquiorra spun around to face Mirro. Not towards Ulquiorra, either. The barrage cut through the air faster than a cero, aimed for the tree to cause a destructive explosion more than adequate to destroy it. Ulquiorra used sonido to rush forward, repositioning himself in front of the line of bala, energy crackling around his wrist as he prepared to strike each one down with a counter blow.

In that time, Mirro redirected towards Aracelis. She was defenseless, oblivious to reality as Clematis played with memories. Clematis herself refused to move, her bloodied face glaring at Aracelis with distain. Both stood no chance against Mirro. He thought Clematis would at least protect herself from death so what-

With every ounce of her power, the weed tossed a dazed Aracelis directly towards Mirro and his toxic cloud.

As Mirro reached for her throat, Ulquiorra allowed himself to be struck by a bala. A cero would injure Aracelis, and she already fought to breath as poison burned her lungs. A bala would do the same. He pulled back his arm, energy gathering into a lance. It was the only option.

A Luz de la Luna caught Mirro's shoulder, shredding it as it forced him back. Aracelis frantically beat her wings to launch herself away, choking on blood as her regeneration fought against burns in her lungs and throat. Her scorched skin peeled, forgotten to heal internal damage first. Ulquiorra's wing tore under its own weight, thin threads of skin ripping before falling to the ground. His left arm slowly regenerated burned skin, the bala having struck hard, the Luz de la Luna draining away precious energy. Mirro hissed, shoulder and arm taking a few seconds more to heal than previously.

Clematis's wild shriek filled the silence. Dozens of ceros fired into Aracelis's back. She flew forward, wings crumbling when she slammed into the ground. Ulquiorra retaliated with a bala. Clematis fell to the ground, innumerable vines severed, blood muddying the white sand. She became quiet. Alive, but uncharacteristically silent. Ulquiorra wanted to believe she was finally ready to admit defeat, but she more than likely feigned it. Even at the edge of death, the weed would inevitably seek a way to escape.

Aracelis shakily pushed herself from the sand after spitting out blood. Ulquiorra landed beside her, shifting attention between Mirro and Aracelis, using pesquisa to sense any movement from Clematis. Aracelis wiped blood from her lip, gingerly beating her slowly regenerating wings. From the corner of her eye, she looked to Ulquiorra.

He understood immediately. Ulquiorra dipped his head slightly in agreeance, narrowing his eyes at Mirro. He heard Aracelis laugh humorlessly under her breath as she glared at Mirro.

With Clematis severely injured, and their own energy dwindling, it was time to deal with Mirro. Ellzea's spiritual pressure began to wane. That left Mirro panting heavily, taking advantage of Clematis's final distraction to recover from what would have been a deadly blow had it squarely struck his chest. The parasite understood that all attention would by on him now, that he would have to fight by himself instead of hiding behind others. Mirro's growing desperation reflected in Ellzea's clouded eyes.

"I swear," Mirro said, voice a grim hiss, "If I die, I'll take Aracelis with me." He raised his hands, more poison seeping from pointed claws. A cero gathered as he screamed, "She's mine!"

In the wake of the cero, Mirro followed. Aracelis jumped to the side as his claws sloppily swung for her. Mirro pursued, continuing to wildly slash air as Aracelis used sonido. She was beginning to slow down. Her wings were still in the process of regenerating. As Mirro closed the gap between them, he filled the air with more poison, forcing Aracelis to keep moving backward.

"You gloat a lot for someone who hasn't hit me yet," Aracelis commented off-handedly, egging Mirro on as he cycled between cursing and growling. "You're definitely weaker without my body."

Ulquiorra waited patiently for Mirro's tunnel vision to create an opening. As cautious as the creature could be, losing one's calm in battle invited mistakes.

"Shut up!" Mirro snapped, taking the bait very easily.

Ulquiorra shot forward, breath held, nails sailing through Mirro's wings as the bastard noticed him last-second. He unexpectedly whipped around, bala smashing into Ulquiorra to momentarily blind him. Mirro lashed out at him repeatedly. Even as his severed limbs fell to the side, regenerating before being sliced away again, Mirro relentlessly attacked at close range. Bala exploded around Ulquiorra, some catching him as he dodged poisoned claws. He felt his skin blistering in areas as toxic scales whirled around him. One eye became hazy with damage.

Aracelis's foot caught Mirro's face, pushing him back a short distance before his hand wrapped around her ankle. Her face light up with a grin despite her skin melting away from bone.

Mirro reacted too late. Ulquiorra's hand slashed open Ellzea's chest fractionally below where Mirro bonded with her. With a scream and a cero, he released Aracelis to flee a distance away. He breathed laboriously, eyes panicked as he slowly regenerated a near-deadly hit. Had he reacted a partial moment later, he would be dead.

"A few more hits," Aracelis muttered beside Ulquiorra, voice tired. She watched as her ankle tried to heal, bone still visible as poison began to win even after she cut away most of her skin. Ulquiorra's own wounds were slow to close, his skin still peeling from the poison, bala, and cero.

"A few more," Ulquiorra confirmed, his tone flat. They would not have the pleasure of causing Mirro a drawn-out death. Not with the tripled energy required to regenerate festering wounds. Ulquiorra understood Aracelis's disappointment in giving the creature a quick death.

"This is all your fault!" Mirro yelled, fury making his words almost unintelligible. He directed the blame towards Aracelis this time. "I made you powerful! You would have died some pathetic human, or gotten eaten by some hollow! I gave you _everything_ you have now, whore!"

He heard Aracelis stifle a shout. Ulquiorra's spiritual pressure wavered, increasing at the ludicrous claims. Even though it was a blatant attempt to rile them up, Mirro's words struck a raw nerve in both of them. She owed Mirro _nothing_ for all the suffering he put her through. No matter the end result, no matter if she had managed to find some form of happiness in this hell, she didn't deserve to become a hollow- a creature that by its very name was devoid of anything but unending hunger and pain. Suggesting she owed him gratitude for misery…

A blue cero burned the air. "Quiet," Aracelis ordered, voice icy and level with her absolute rage. "You would still be a hollow unable to overpower even a human if not for me."

An incomprehensible shriek was Mirro's response as the battle resumed, now a wordless struggle permeated by pure hatred.

* * *

Plating crumbled away from the last strike. Mirro retreated a distance, sonido slowed, regeneration a crawl. Not that Aracelis and Ulquiorra were in much better condition.

Aracelis felt exhaustion setting in. Her sonido became sluggish, her reaction time diminishing by the second. Nearly everything hurt in some manner: open wounds burned with the remnants of toxins, fractured bones refused to mend, and her throat and nose felt scorched. Ulquiorra even showed signs of exhaustion. His breathing wasn't as even anymore, his skin blistered in patches, both wings torn to shreds, an injured eye, and a horn broken from his mask.

The battle seemingly lasted an eternity, when it likely hadn't stretched past twenty minutes. Every exchange, every retreat and respite, lasted mere seconds at a time before resuming in a flurry of sonido and bursts of spiritual pressure. The hits that she connected felt disappointing. No matter the scathing responses, nor the crack of plating and bone, made up for the torture she wanted to bring him. It felt satisfying to hit him, yet, in the end, dissatisfying. Perhaps it was foolish to think she could deliver the same level of pain he had caused her over centuries. Physical pain, maybe, but she could never deal the same amount of psychological pain he caused her because of his personality.

Mirro fired a cero, the energy fizzling out quickly. Clematis had been right; he would burn through Ellzea's and his power rapidly. Ellzea's corpse appeared seconds away from falling apart. Without the hollows swarming the battlefield, most having long since fled or hidden underground, Mirro couldn't replenish what he used. And his extravagant fighting style, it wasted energy very quickly. No wonder he had been concerned about _her_ wasting energy; he projected his own idiocy onto her.

Ulquiorra met Mirro's attack, kicking him in the stomach to force him back before poisoned claws struck him. Ulquiorra pursued to create an opening.

They had been taking turns slashing Mirro apart, one acting as a distraction so the other could make a move. Mirro noticed, of course, but couldn't do much to stop them since they'd just switch the moment his attention fell on the other. They made a good team…

Aracelis readied to dart forward, slice into whatever she could. Mirro lashed out at Ulquiorra, beating his wings to force toxins into Ulquiorra's face as he drew near, feinting an attack to the skull growth. As Ulquiorra retreated a short distance to flee the scales before his skin fell away, Mirro's face cracked with a wicked grin.

Ellzea's pores dripped with poison. In a second, her entire body was covered with flesh-rendering poison. So much, in fact, her own skin became to melt away. He doubled his efforts to fill the air with a final storm of scales. Ulquiorra grit his teeth, recklessly launching himself at Mirro to kill him before he left Ellzea's decaying corpse.

In a flash of brilliant light, Ellzea's half liquified body jolted forward. Ulquiorra held up his arm as the wave of concentrated poison slammed into him before he could escape. When the remains of Ellzea's body fell to the ground, Aracelis saw a bright green flash color the black sky. Ulquiorra held his shoulder, blood seeping from the gaping wound where the cero hadn't cauterized the vessels. He had been forced to blow off his right arm from the shoulder down, and, even then, the poison rotted his flesh wherever it had splashed. That cero… it had likely taken the remainder of his energy. More strain and… and she might be watching him turn to ash again.

Mirro stood triumphantly, staring down his nose at Ulquiorra. He was in his resurrección, body not yet battered as Ellzea's served as a substitute. His self-satisfied smile made Aracelis bit back a scream.

"This is how it ends, Ulquiorra," Mirro said, nearing delirium. Like he had won everything in the world. Like he had defeated his arch-enemy. Like he had forgotten her. With his back turned to her, he may as well have. "All of that pointless fighting, all that _precious_ love, and I still won!"

"I vowed to eliminate you," Ulquiorra stated in observation rather than defeat or anger.

Mirro raised a sickled hand into the air. "That's all you have to s-"

He coughed up blood. In a wordless stupor, he glanced to his chest in disbelief. A blood-stained hand was stabbed through his chest, her arm plunged so deeply she couldn't see her elbow. Mirro froze, his mind likely racing.

"But it is more fitting for Aracelis to have that honor," Ulquiorra said, finishing his earlier sentence.

Unlike Mirro, he sensed Aracelis's spiritual pressure shrink to near nothing as she concealed herself. And then, in one sonido, she had closed the distance to impale Mirro below the heart, ripping through his spinal cord to paralyze his lower half- had to leave him with partial feeling, after all.

"Do you miss this power being yours, Mirro?" Aracelis twisted her arm. His answer was lost in a sharp breath as he narrowly avoided screaming. "You're afraid of pain, aren't you?" She pulled her arm back, claws slicing into his chest.

"Sh-shut…" Mirro growled, his arm shaking as he tried to slash at her hand. "Wh-whore."

Aracelis removed her arm, kicking Mirro in the back to send him face-first into the sand below. "This is nothing compared to what you did to me," she hissed as she tore off one of his arms, a shout finally escaping from him. " _Nothing!"_ She stomped her foot onto the back of his neck as he tried to squirm away to hide under the sand like the absolute worm he was. "This is what you deserve!"

She stepped to the side, palm glowing as she summoned the last of her energy. His wide, terrified eyes met hers, his mouth opening in a final insult or plea.

The cero disintegrated his head, the rest of his body quickly decaying at the bottom of the crater the blast created.

Aracelis bit her lip.

Frustrated tears tried to gather in her eyes as she stared into the empty hole. It wasn't enough. Killing him once wasn't enough. She wanted it to be longer. She wanted revenge for centuries of damage, but... But instead it ended in only a matter of seconds! She hated it! She hated him!

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra said calmly, soothingly, as he landed beside her.

"I… I wanted…" She mumbled, staring at the hole in the ground lacking even a corpse for her to desecrate. "I wanted him to suffer more! I wanted…"

"You wanted justice."

Aracelis tensed at the bitter voice. Ulquiorra and her turned in time to see Clematis stumbling to her feet. The weed was covered in blood, pieces of her mask falling to the ground, as she took a shaky step forward. Most of her vines were severed, seeping blood to leave a trail as she crept closer.

"But not mine," Clematis whispered, confusion flickering onto her battered face. "I don't understand. Why only Mirro and not Ulquiorra too? Is it because you love him so much you're blind to what he's done?" Her steps halted as she wiped blood from her face with a vine. She honestly seemed perplexed as she muttered more or less to herself. "But that's not love… I thought. He tried to kill you, so, I don't understand why. Why stay with someone that purposefully hurt you?"

"You're insane, aren't you?" Aracelis asked no one in particular.

Right now, Clematis painted herself as simply crazy, muttering to herself about things she had seen the answer to by reading their memories. Yet this was the same creature that repeatedly stood up to an Espada, made elaborate schemes to reach some unidentifiable end, gathered armies of hollows to do her bidding, and managed to escape impossible situations with her life. She was by no means an idiot, but her motivations were just bizarre and nonsensical.

"I am," Clematis answered back, tilting her head to the side as she twirled a few of vines on her head with one of her few remaining 'fingers.' Her lips twitched as she tried to hold back a fit of laughter. Instead, with a grin, she chirped, "Human memories will do that to a hollow."

Ulquiorra suddenly wrenched Aracelis to the side, before pulling her from the ground with him. The sand below them shifted to form a whirlpool. From the center, several Menos's faces emerged, opening their gargantuan mouths to charge ceros. Part of the Menos Forest must be below, Aracelis concluded as more masks joined the chaotic whirlpool. The vortex itself, it had to belong to an Adjuchas that had fled under the sand earlier. Ulquiorra had been paying attention to their surroundings while she listened to the weed's commentary, then. The final act of defiance: her escape plan. Acting confused, claiming to remember her human memories, it might have all been a diversion until the sluggish Menos reached her, for Mirro's defeat to signal the Adjuchas to begin stirring the sand.

Clematis suspended herself above the mass, a forced smile on her face. Blood still poured from her wounds, her spiritual pressure weakening by the second. Even if she did escape, those wounds, she wouldn't survive in Hueco Mundo very long. And, unlike them, she couldn't hide in the human world until she recovered.

"You see, I don't want to die again." Clematis's voice quivered in pain as she raised a vine, attempting to summon a cero.

"Let us end this," Ulquiorra said as he dropped her wrist. Aracelis glanced at him, realizing that his amputated right arm still bled, his regeneration non-existent. "We will not be able to give immediate pursuit if she slips away."

Aracelis nodded, understanding completely. Even sonido was a stretch for them right now. Their resurreccións would crumble away with exhaustion if they pushed their limits any further.

With as much speed as they dared, Ulquiorra and Aracelis launched themselves at Clematis. Her cero fizzled, emitting light without explosive force. Aracelis reached out in the glow, claws ready to slice into the weed for a final time.

Instead, a vine smacked her directly between the eyes, thorns imbedding in skin.

 _Aracelis turned away, walking into the distance, leaving him as his body began to disintegrate. The humans had refused to kill him, and now, now he realized something pivotal: he didn't want to die. Fear overcame him for the first time in centuries. He watched in horror as Aracelis walked away, knowing he would never see her again, that he wouldn't be able to help her remove Mirro. The prospect of hell, of suffering through his mistakes again and again, he couldn't bear the thought. And being sent to the Soul Society, where he would forget who he held most dear entirely, that terrified him. Worse than any fate to befall him, he realized that Aracelis would blame herself for his death. She would regret telling him she loved him, breaking her heart with misplaced guilt._

 _In his own way, he begged Orihime for his life. Yet, it was too late for second chances. His body quickly decayed to ash as he understood what he had done._

 _He saw she had become his heart, that rejecting his heart meant rejecting hers as well. No matter how many times he rejected her feelings, she tried again despite the uncertainty of him ever feeling the same for her. In the palm of his hand had been their heart, and he repressed what could have been happiness._

 _The splendidly awful burden he felt, realized only as he died, it was love._

 _He loved her._

Reality returned with the soft light of the moon over head. Aracelis stared forward blankly, muted emotions mixed, at the empty expanse of sand before her. All the hollows had fled while they were trapped in a memory. Clematis had escaped to the forest below, her spiritual pressure missing beyond the bounds of Aracelis's pesquisa. Not from exhaustion or distance, but, more likely, because Clematis hid in a garganta until she deemed it safe to return to Hueco Mundo. She had enough energy to stand in the void world for a few hours at least; conserving energy might have been why she laid so quietly while they finished off Mirro. How much of her actions had been towards escape? Why did she decide to escape rather than kill them while they were unresponsive? Aracelis had no idea anymore.

"Ulquiorra," she whispered, turning to him after standing up. He still sat on the ground, a vine decaying next to him, a distant look in his eyes. The expression changed her question. "Did you see some of my memories?"

"I see," he answered after a distracted pause, taking the hand she offered to help him stand. "I did." She expected _feeling_ her chaotic emotions was an experience in itself for him, his emotional range more limited by his nature. That's what made the memory Clematis showed her so powerful: Ulquiorra experiencing intense emotions for the first time. "She knew I was no longer distracted by my own memories," he needlessly stated, perhaps trying to understand Clematis's change in tactics as she preferred to torture them with their own regrets. She wanted to ask what memory he had seen, but this wasn't the time. "In any case, I do not believe pursuing her is in our best interests."

"I…" She sighed, wanting to go finish off the annoying creature, but knowing they shouldn't. While under the weed's ability, they had fallen to the ground, resurreccións finally giving away. Her body remained moderately injured with burnt, gashed, or missing skin, and felt completely drained of energy. Ulquiorra's left eye had clouded over with damage, his skin still peeling off, and, most obviously, his right arm gone while the wound dripped blood.

"I agree," Aracelis confirmed. "Even if she's mortally injured too, it's just not worth the risk."

"She will likely die," Ulquiorra stated, almost like he was trying to cheer them up with that fact. "The weed's regeneration will require months to heal her injuries; she will struggle to fight off attacks from even the weakest of hollows. In the event she survives, we will recover long before her."

"She won't be able to fight us now." Aracelis smiled a bit. "Without Mirro holding me back, she can't use me as a hostage anymore. No hollow will work with her again after this battle either. And we hadn't been at full strength this time, so, if there's a next time, she won't stand a chance." Without Mirro, Aracelis would be even stronger than before. Hell, between Ulquiorra and her at full power, almost no one could defeat them- hollow or soul reaper. They'd be near invincible together. After struggling for so long, clawing for power, sitting at the top of the food chain again would be pleasant indeed.

Not that it didn't piss her off that Clematis got away. She was furious that the weed managed to escape again despite her mortal injuries, all because her ability could block senses. Aracelis certainly didn't know the weed could lop off a vine and still use her ability briefly, either. Ulquiorra didn't seem surprised by that, though, so presumably the weed had pulled this stunt before- probably when she escaped after attacking Orihime.

Ulquiorra began walking, steps having purpose. She followed, curious and trying to shove aside her anger. She couldn't do much about what happened now, only acknowledge it had happened and learn from it. They would go back to the human world to recover, surely. Why Ulquiorra wondered off instead of opening a garganta perplexed her. Maybe he wanted to check on the tree; the whirlpool of Menos might have damaged it.

"Oh." A short distance away, unceremoniously tossed to the side and covered in sand, was her gigai. "We need to take that back with us…" Couldn't leave a high-tech piece laying in the sand for just anyone to play around with; there were hollows that might find a way to utilize it. She titled her head a bit when he grabbed an ankle, it taking a moment for her to understand that neither of them had the energy to carry the thing alone. She picked up the other ankle, both of them adjusting their holds to drag it behind them through the garganta. It didn't matter how beat up it got; she'd need a different one now that Mirro was gone anyway. Might as well be a piece of trash to them.

"Hey, what _should_ we do now?" Aracelis asked after tearing open a garganta. "I mean, after Orihime heals us up a bit and I get a new gigai, we won't have to stay in Karakura." She nearly forgot what freedom felt like, her last year plus spent under the rule of Aizen, Mirro dictating everything before that. They really could do _anything_ once they didn't look and feel like battered corpses. She almost felt directionless underneath the happiness of having control returned to her. All their enemies were dead or soon-to-be dead. Only a single, simple idea came to mind.

"Whatever you wish, Aracelis." He didn't know what to do either, then. Ulquiorra looked to her when she bumped her hand into his, unable to hold it currently.

"I mainly just want to spend time with you." As corny as it was, it's what she wanted. Relaxing without the threat of disaster hanging above them, it's what they needed. "I think doing nothing at all sounds perfect after all of this crap." Talking and being near each other was how this all began. Returning to that, having time to sort through foreign emotions, learning more about each other, now would be perfect.

"Nothing," Ulquiorra repeated, a tiny amount of amusement slipping into his tone. His green eyes revealed more than his tone, expression showing he thought her request was humorous. They could do anything she wished, and she wanted to do nothing. "You are a strange woman."

She couldn't hold back her smile as she happily replied, "I know."

They stumbled through the garganta in silence for a few moments, dragging the gigai behind them. Aches began setting in, adrenaline completely fading away as they left the dangers of Hueco Mundo behind. She hoped Orihime was still waiting at Urahara's shop for their return; stubborn human insisted on doing so after all. Even if he protested, Ulquiorra would be getting healed first. He had taken a lot of damage protecting her. He looked awful, honestly.

"Aracelis," Ulquiorra said, breaking her train of thought. His voice had grown serious, but after glancing at his softened expression, she merely acknowledged that he had her attention. "I love you." A reconfirmation, no longer shadowed with the fear of the words being a goodbye, but just as meaningful and heartfelt as before.

"I love you too, Ulquiorra," Aracelis said, touching her hand to the back of his again. He always seemed relieved when she told him that, like it meant the world to him. It probably did, considering his memory that she had experienced for herself. She hoped the memory he'd been shown had been one showing how much she loved him; she couldn't imagine his earlier daze being caused by anything else. If the weed was good for anything, it was bringing emotions to the surface so they dealt with them instead of hiding in fear of the other's reaction.

"Now and forever," she added, wanting it to be the truth for centuries to come. No more being split apart by the circumstances. No more crushing loneliness when they thought they had forever lost the other. No more being alone in the empty world infected by death and despair.

"Forever," he confirmed, contentment, maybe even happiness, creeping into his voice as looked at her. "That is an interesting concept." He kept his hand pressed to hers, walking closer to her than before.

"I'm glad you think so too, Ulquiorra." Her smile made his eyes soften in his own version of what could become a smile given time.

She could think of no better end than eternity together.

* * *

 **I know, it took some time to finish, but here we are! The final true chapter of the story! I hope it met expectations. There's still a side/conclusion chapter dealing with Clematis and a cheery little epilogue 'till I truly mark this story as complete. I will gladly answer any questions!**

 **Thank you everyone! For reading, following, favoriting, and reviewing! I am so grateful and amazed by how many people read my story!**

 **haipa-chan- First, I just want to thank you so,** _ **so**_ **much for all the reviews, support, and ideas you've given me over the entire story! It was so nice to hear your thoughts and read your reactions on nearly every chapter; you really helped this story come together by pointing things out, asking questions, sparking ideas, or just keeping me motivated. I hope the conclusion, while indeed only one chapter, was satisfyingly resolved; Clematis, of course, will have her own chapter to sort through some final things. This was more for Mirro's defeat, although Aracelis could never truly be satisfied killing him once- so, while kicking the crap out of him for chapters would be a great time, it would never be enough. At least dying by Ulquiorra and Aracelis's hands was the ultimate insult to parasite bastard. I wanted Mirro to be the stereotypical abusive asshole more-or-less, so I'm glad he came off that way- don't want no sympathy for villain number one in Aracelis's life. And, haha, yeah… that cliffhanger when he took over Ellzea just seemed like a nice place to stop since I was suddenly inundated with homework. Otherwise, this would have been one giant, epic chapter dedicated to the final confrontation. So, again, I just want to thank you for the literal years of support! I don't think I can ever express how great it was to have you around, and hear that you loved the story!**


	58. Chapter 58- In Poisoned Memory

Clematis stumbled over her own feet, uneven sand hindering her escape. Hollows howled behind her. For the first time in a long time, the sound filled her with indescribable dread. Fighting back was no longer possible. She did not have enough energy to use her resurrección. Firing ceros had become impossible with her overwhelming injuries. Running. Running was all she could do and even that option was quickly fading away.

The wounds she had sustained in the battle with Ulquiorra and Aracelis, despite it being quite some time ago, had yet to heal. Her mask remained broken, painful. Her vines were mangled and missing, nearly useless as hands. Relentless attacks from hollows had left her unable to rest. Clematis had no allies to turn to anymore either… Even the Adjuchas that assisted in her escape had turned on her.

For the first time since becoming an Adjuchas, Clematis found herself utterly alone. She had no pawns or friends. Everything had fallen apart.

And she didn't understand why.

Clematis grit her teeth at the thought, because it was an outright lie. No matter how much she didn't want to admit it, she knew _exactly_ what had happened. She didn't understand it, but she knew. She had done what she warned Ulquiorra to avoid.

" _The past, you can't ignore it like it doesn't exist. You'll make the same exact mistakes again and again if you pretend it holds absolutely no meaning."_

She had made the same mistake that brought her death as a human.

* * *

 _Clem faked a laugh as she pulled the heavily intoxicated man from the ground, watching him stumble again with a hint of amusement. She had picked him up at a bar a few hours ago. He had been on his way to being drunk on his own, but she ensured it._

" _Are you sure your wife is still out?" she asked, voice sickly sweet, smile faked to hide absolute resentment._

" _Y-yeah," he assured, nearly tripping if not for her tight hold on his arm. He had grown paler, his face covered in a cold sweat. She ignored his slurred, repetitive explanation that his wife had gone to her sister's because they had a fight again, that she would spend the night there. She had found herself a disloyal bastard! Her mind ran wild with sins someone like him had committed, and the punishments he deserved. The more she did this, the more blood that stained her hands, the more enjoyable it became. She almost shook with anticipatory excitement as they reached the door._

" _Well," Clem chirped, taking the key from him as he struggled with the lock, "that's good. We would not want interruptions." She didn't need the neighbors noticing her least they figure out what the drunk man couldn't. So, inside as quickly as possible they go! "I do so like to take my time," she mumbled, fighting a grin as she pushed the door open._

 _He'd be dead by the end of the night. That's what he deserved. This was justice._

 _This was the justice_ _ **she**_ _was denied._

…

…

* * *

" _Clementine, this backyard is perfect," she whispered, eyes sparkling as she looked over the space. They had finally scraped enough money together. A modest house surrounded by gardening space, it was exactly what they always dreamed of._

" _It is," Clem said, wrapping her arms around Jaqueline, resting her cheek against hers. "Soon, after we save some more, we can start a flower shop too. It'll be perfect, dear Jacki." A peck on the cheek made Jacki try to squirm away, Clem pouting._

" _Clem." Jacki pried her arms away, half-hearted glare on her face. "We're outside, someone might see," she weakly chided, turning around to walk back into the house. "I don't… I don't want to make people suspect anything again."_

" _Jacki, forget about your parents." Clem folded her arms over her chest, voice taking a cold edge. She hated them. If she could get away with killing them, well, she would. Treating sweet Jacki like a pariah for liking women… She didn't understand why Jacki was so hung up on them; they were better thought of as dead. "You don't need them. I love you, so-"_

" _Stop." Jacki sighed; Clem knew Jacki was tired of arguing her point to someone irrevocably stubborn. But, even if she knew that, Clem didn't understand why Jacki wouldn't abandon them like they had her. Jacki was convinced she had some empathy issues… "I don't want to talk about this again."_

 _Clem bit back a response, pouting dramatically as she followed Jacki into the safety of the house._

* * *

 _Clem hummed as she opened the front door, happy to be home after a long day of work. In a few more months, they would have enough money to open their flower shop, and she could say good-bye to housekeeping. It would all…_

 _Her eyes went wide as she froze. She dropped everything she held, unable to move her feet as her brain tried to process what she saw. Jacki sat on the floor, clothes torn and dirtied, scraped knees bleeding, bruises forming, a cloth held to her tear-streaked face._

 _Fear turned to fury._

" _What happened?" Clem asked as she grabbed another clean rag, sitting on the floor next to Jacki. She cleaned the scrapes, trying to ignore the tears in her own eyes. "Who did this?" she snapped, immediately aiming an apologetic look to Jacki. She already knew. Some men kept harassing her at work. "I'll have them arrested for hurting you!"_

" _No!" She winced, making Clem grit her teeth. "No, Clementine, you can't call the police. There would be a trial and… And if they found out we're together, we'd be forced to leave again! We're so close, I don't want…"_

" _But where's the justice in that!?" Clem stood, fists clenched at her sides. "Why should they get to go free after attacking you? Just because you aren't married to a man, does that mean you don't deserve justice?"_

" _Clem," Jacki said, voice straining to sound calm and not pained. "Clem, I know it isn't fair, but there's nothing-"_

" _Nothing we can do? We can change things somehow! I'm tired of this! Of hiding, of living in fear!"_

" _Cl-Clem, please,_ _ **please**_ _, don't. You can't." Jacki's desperate tone finally reached Clem through her rage. She sat back down, wrapping her arms around Jacki in a careful embrace, jaw clenched as Jacki began crying into her shoulder. She was needed here right now…_

 _But she had not given up on gaining justice._

* * *

 _She sat in silence on the porch, her legs pulled to her chest as she vacantly stared at an empty flower pot. The bitter breeze stung her soaked face._

" _I… I promise," Clem muttered, another wave of guilt and tears hitting her. "I promise to find you justice, dear Jacki. I…"_

 _She should have listened. She shouldn't have gone to the police, brought the case to court for unjust jurors to try. They let them go, making a split decision between they had been 'attempting to help a confused woman' or 'she had somehow asked for this to happen.' Jacki… It'd all been too much. The stares. The insults. The vandalism._

" _I'm so sorry… So that's why, no matter what, I'll make sure they're dead. I'll make sure no one else gets hurt like us. I'll take everything from them. So… So just know that I'm so very sorry."_

 _The silence broke, first with a suppressed, delirious giggle to mad laughter. Tears still rolled from her eyes, but she found every bit of malice in her, and directed that rage towards a goal._

" _I will make them suffer! As much as I can, until they go crazy with pain!"_

…

…

* * *

 _The man nearly fell to the floor as he tripped over a rug. With the door closed behind them, the darkness of the room obscuring her face, Clem left her façade behind. She smiled brightly, shifting her purse as her target tried to fight his spinning vision._

" _I… don't feel… right," he muttered, grabbing a chair to support himself. His baffled expression broke her concentration._

 _She began giggling madly, like he had said the funniest thing in the world. And how he stared back at her! Slowly his confusion shifted, his eyes widening, mouth falling open ever so slightly. While words failed him, his expression said it all. He recognized her._

 _It was surprising she still got away with this, considering her description was everywhere in the news the last month. All she had to do was act like a pretty airhead and suspicions eased, making her just another lonely woman looking for a man to her target audience. She liked to think of herself as an actress, the star of her own drama, as she lured scum to more timely deaths. The news made her seem so… dull. They didn't seem to appreciate her intelligence at all, merely labeling her an insane woman with a penchant for poisoning and stabbing._

" _Oh well," she chirped, dismissing her underappreciated character as she fished around in her purse. He stared at her blankly, shuffling back a few steps as his brain began to override his initial shock. "You're already poisoned, mister." She grinned when he paled further. Her hand found the handle of her knife. "Come now, you can't act so surprised by this. You were planning to be disloyal to your wife. With a complete stranger, no less. Actions have consequences. And, well, I am that consequence." She flung her arms to the side, blade in full view as she took a step forward. He gave a high-pitched scream, falling as he tripped over his own feet. "Now, now. You can't just run away. You did this to yourself, mister."_

 _Footsteps echoed in the hall. Clem froze. Around the corner, running into the room, was a woman. A very frightened woman that looked at her husband on the floor and back at Clem with her knife in terror. Clem missed the wife's first words as her brain scrambled to process the situation. This… this wasn't part of her plan. She couldn't hurt her, obviously, but she would get in the way. If she got in the way, then she couldn't bring the husband to justice for his deeds against his wife. Then she should get rid of her too, for standing in the way of justice. But, she was the one she was trying to help. Collateral damage… Did she kill them both to get rid of him? Was his death worth the slaying of an innocent woman? Indecision struck Clem._

 _So, she did what she tended to do when perplexed. "Are you going to protect him?" she asked aloud, searching for an answer to her dilemma. The wife ignored her, taking a defensive side step as her husband told her to stay safe. "You do understand that he brought me here with the intent of adultery, yes? He doesn't deserve your protection. He's already poisoned, too, so you should just leave me to my work."_

" _You're absolutely insane!" the woman shouted at her as her shoulder brushed a wall next to a closet. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes. "What did you do to my husband!?"_

" _This is his punishment, of course." Clem tilted her head to the side, growing more confused with the situation. It's like her explanation hadn't been heard at all. "He brought me here of his own will. I don't understand. Why are you upset with me when he was the one that planned to do something unthinkable while you were out? I'm trying to help."_

" _Help me?" the woman shouted, opening the closet door, hiding her body behind it while reaching for something. "I never asked you to help me!"_

" _Would you have known otherwise? You could have been trapped in an unhappy marriage filled with deceit, or left with a stigma to your name for a divorce." Clem's grin wavered as she stepped forward, confused and angry that the other woman didn't understand that she was helping her. The wife would have been all but helpless if her husband left her. Clem understood that to be their society's truth. "I am bringing you justice. Am I wrong?"_

" _Yes, you are!" she screamed, taking a step back, her shaky hands clutching a shotgun. Clem dropped her knife, heart pounding in her chest. The woman jerked the barrel upwards. "I didn't ask you to do this!"_

 _The sound echoed in the room long after the trigger was pulled. Clem fell to her knees, coughing up blood, a sea of red spreading out around her. The shot spread out, a mangled hole punched through her stomach. Her vision already twisted with blood loss. Amidst the pain, she felt unbearably cold._

" _I don't…" she repeated in a whisper, blood dripping down her chin._

 _Confusion. Anger. Regret._

 _She couldn't suddenly die like this. Not when so much resentment remained in her soul at the unjust world that left her alone._

 _She absolutely refused to accept this as the end._

…

* * *

 _The white desert stretched far beneath the black sky. She stared at the vines in the sand, contemplating where she had been for so long. The gap in her memory, the vivid despair of her death to now, felt blank. A cacophony of screams. A struggle for control. A_ _ **hollow**_ _. That was all her memory offered when it came to how she had arrived in an empty desert, her body a monstrous mass of vines with a grinning mask._

 _The other memories reeked of familiarity, of forgone humanity. Her human life remained to poison her well into this afterlife. She briefly considered this to be hell. A serial killer in life, what salvation would wait her soul? Surely, though, this place wasn't the brimstone cage she imagined hell to be. No, all things considered, the desert was rather peaceful. The unsuitable hunger in the pit of her nonexistent stomach had numbed her former spite, resentment, and melancholy. And the fact these hollows devoured innocent souls, that didn't quite sound like divine punishment for those damned to hell. Nope. This was somewhere else._

 _She felt her face twitch, the mask moving with her mouth to split open into a wicked grin. Oh, she liked it here. She liked the implications of having a monster's form while maintaining her human mentality- or at least the obsessive violence of it. If she had been a nightmare as a human, then, as a hollow, she would become hell incarnate. A demon vindicator of justice, that's what she would be!_

 _The contradictory thought made her burst out laughing._

" _It sounds like a strangled bird," a scathing, yet quiet voice commented. A child with an attitude, she decided. "We should kill it to quiet that awful noise."_

" _Ni_ _ñ_ _a!" Another voice shouted in sheer offence. This one was deeper, masculine. "Did you think I would miss that rude remark? I sound nothing like that! Right, jovenzuelo?"_

 _A huff was the third presence's response._

 _Her laughter tapered off. She had sensed their approach, but decided to see what they wanted. Their rather noisy arrival showed they did not intend to harm her… yet. She looked over her shoulder, curious to see what these other monsters looked like. The smallest was shaped like a mosquito, face unreadable if not for piercingly narrowed red eyes. The one she felt was the strongest had a bird-like mask over his face, the twin cyclones emerging from his shoulders also wearing avian masks. He appeared the most human of the group, but only marginally. The third was bulky, a horned skull completing his bull-resembling look. So strange… Maybe a pile of vines wasn't as odd as she first thought._

 _The bird-masked hollow hopped, turning around to point at her dramatically. "I am Dordoni Alessandro Del Socaccio, powerful hollow overlord in the making! Be my subordinate!"_

 _She stared blankly._

" _You are the overlord of idiocy," the mosquito sighed._

 _Dordoni whipped around, almost smacking the bull in the face with one the odd whirlwinds on his back. "Then you are an idiot too, Ni_ _ñ_ _a! Because you are the overlord of idiocy's subordinate!" With as much flare as before, he spun around once more, posing heroically. "And you! What do you say to my gracious offer?"_

 _Finally, the giggles escaped her._

" _Licidae, Rudbornn, stand down for now." Dordoni held up an arm to calm the advance of the other two hollows. While they wore hostile looks, Dordoni's flamboyance was overtaken by seriousness. He did not want a fight unless necessary. How civil considering they were all monsters of some sort. She wondered, were they all killers like her? Or had they ended up in this desert a different way? Perhaps they knew more about where, exactly, she found herself currently._

" _My, aren't you an interesting bunch," she spouted out, waving a few bundles of vines at her side, still not used to the lack of human limbs. "I suppose I may tag along with you until I grow bored of you." She tilted her head, grin splitting her mask. She did not quite understand how to survive in this form yet; having some allies would do her well. If she decided they were reprehensible later on, she could kill them then, their purpose served. "My name is-"_

 _She cut herself off. Her expression slipped from cheer to contemplative, a vine raised to her chin in place of a hand. Clementine had been the mortal soul that gave rise to this hollow form. It didn't feel quite right to keep her human name considering she was no longer such. Although, given she had retained her personality and memories, completely leaving her old name behind didn't feel right either. Such a silly thing to debate as an audience stared at her in question._

" _Clematis Jackmanii," she announced with an exaggerated bow. A type of ivy for her plant-like appearance, as well as a combination of Clem and Jacki; this name suited her needs well enough._

 _She did not want to forget her past. Rather, she wanted to expand upon it. Clematis wanted nothing more than to continue her misguided mission as a monster easily capable of killing dozens at once. Learning to use her hollow body to its fullest would be her first step in becoming a worse menace then she had ever been capable of as a mortal._

 _For justice, she repeated, clinging to that word as her justification and reason._

* * *

In the end, she repeated the mistakes she had made as a human. Aracelis loved Ulquiorra. Even with the numerous things he had done to harm her and others, Aracelis loved him. She would protect him. She would never ask for Clematis's help in the manner she wanted. Clematis begrudgingly had to accept that her _justice_ hadn't been needed, nor her interference wholly necessary. If she looked beyond her own selfish reasons to find the scrap of empathy she possessed, she could see that she had been wrong.

Mirro had no redeeming qualities, his human self as wicked as his hollow self. He represented something truly worthy of extinguishing. In Clematis's opinion, bringing his demise might have been worth the cost of Aracelis's life. Had she offered assistance in removing Mirro instead of deeming Aracelis collateral damage in her schemes to kill them both...

But Ulquiorra… His human soul had been wrought with circumstances forcing him into an existence he himself had loathed. He had been a murderer, a bandit, an awful man, yet he had been trying to change. What struck a nerve had been the woman dying because of his actions… Clematis, no matter how much she wished to deny it, knew it was because of her own past. That woman became Jacki in her mind. Ulquiorra came to represent everything she hated… Mainly herself. His actions as a hollow, pushing Aracelis away, constantly considering killing her because she scared him, it made Clematis hate him more. He _frustrated_ her because he had the chance to be happy, _and yet he kept trying to ruin it._ Even when she helped them, she felt frustrated by slow progress and envious that someone like himwould have the happiness she had been denied.

His reluctance pissed her off! Aracelis, she deserved more in her opinion. Aracelis had gone through a hellish life between her human 'lovers' and Mirro. Aracelis didn't need Ulquiorra stomping over her feelings because his coping mechanism became indifference to emotions. Killing Licidae tipped her over the edge.

So, Clematis decided he should die too. Jealously, resentment, and selfishness drove her to target Ulquiorra despite knowing Aracelis would be miserable if she lost him. If she lived, that is, because Clematis had become adamant that Aracelis would inevitably be collateral damage to Mirro's defeat. Unfortunate, but necessary, Clematis had convinced herself.

Clematis crashed to the ground, legs slashed open by one of the pursuing hollows that had managed to catch up to her as she relived her memories for the thousandth time. This would be another end for her. Her soul would be lost to another hollow, never to return in this form again.

She rolled over, not ready to let go. A blue light zipped through the air, imbedding in the hollow's mask to shatter it. The creature faded away entirely. Another shaft of light struck down a second hollow. An arrow. A Quincy.

Clematis's eyes went wide, her body shaking in absolute terror. The group of hollows mindlessly went after the Quincy- two, she quickly assessed. With adrenaline carrying her broken body, she shot up, struggling to run, wishing she could use sonido or dash through a garganta before being fired upon.

 _Anything._ She would take death by _anything_ other than a Quincy. She didn't want her soul entirely erased from existence. She would take eternal punishment in hell over being completely destroyed. If that happened, there would be no chance of her memories remaining intact. And her memories, those were all she had left to cling to. Her motivations were built upon experiences. Her personality came from her past. Jacki _only_ existed in her memories. They were all she had! Having that all obliterated, she wouldn't allow it!

A single arrow pierced her chest. She fell to her knees as her legs gave out beneath her. The white sand and black sky mixed as her vision swayed. Time slowed to a crawl as she stared blankly forward. Unable to fight, unable to move, she felt cold death overtaking her body a second time.

 _I hope…_ She thought, sight fading with her consciousness. _That you found happiness… Because memories…_ Clematis forced a final, bitter smile to her face. _Memories are a truly awful poison when they're all regrets._

* * *

 **And so, Clematis is finally dead, her motivations laid out for interpretation. She was killed by the Wandenreich as they took over Hueco Mundo, too injured to be of much use (and I hope that makes sense, as I never read this part of the manga). As for her past's placement here, at the end, it's because I didn't want her to be pitied during the main story; to Ulquiorra and Aracelis, she was just insanely fixated on them for no reason. But, at the same time, I didn't want to leave her without her motivations. Hollows, I feel, latch onto emotions like loneliness, fear, and rage. Clematis, seeking solace in revenge as a human, became engrossed in her anger and need for what she thinks is justice as hollow to the point of irrationality. She projected her faults onto Ulquiorra, saw Aracelis as Jacki or an obstacle to justice, and Mirro represented everything she hated. In any case, she is very dead, no chance at redemption or punishment, no hell awaiting her nor the possibility of reuniting with Jacki's soul- a merciful yet cruel fate, ultimately.**

 **Anyway, the final chapter, will be an epilogue with dear Aracelis and Ulquiorra.**

 **Thank you to everyone reading, and to those that have followed and favorited!**


	59. Epilogue: To this, the End

**Epilogue: To this, the End**

Aracelis lazily debated getting up. Ulquiorra had been awake for an hour or so already, compromising to read with the book resting on the back of her head, as she refused to release him from his duty as her favorite pillow. It's not like they had pressing matters to attend to.

For the last few months, they stayed in the land of the living. The first month they spent in Karakura, recovering under the dedicated, if sometimes overbearing, care of Orihime. While not fully healed, they eventually concluded they couldn't stand another day in Karakura, surrounded by all the nonsense that seemed to follow Ichigo and his friends. Of course, they also couldn't return to Hueco Mundo. Aracelis and Ulquiorra were confident they could defeat the weed if she managed to crop up, but their injuries would hinder them against anything more than a shredded plant or run-of-the-mill hollow. Urahara had been convinced that _something_ was going on in Hueco Mundo, vowing to find the details of that _something._ Considering that Harribel might have been taken out by that _something,_ Ulquiorra and Aracelis decided they would avoid Hueco Mundo for now. This lead to their extended 'vacation' in the human world.

After a yawn, Aracelis shifted to avoid smacking the book from Ulquiorra's hands as she sat up. She combed her hair out of her face before rubbing her eyes. Ulquiorra only glanced at her before his eyes drifted back to the book.

"Any ideas on what to do today?" she asked when her brain failed to come up with anything. Yesterday they had gone to a library, deciding to stick around in this city long enough to warrant the stack of reading material on the nightstand. The day before that, they'd gone to an art supply store. That, admittedly, was because Aracelis spilled his ink all over the bed the night before- the hotel staff must love them.

Ulquiorra opened his mouth only to be cut off by the deep rumble of thunder, the sound shaking the generic artwork on the wall. Aracelis slid off the bed, it taking only a few steps for her to reach the window, hand parting the curtains. Ulquiorra joined her in peeking outside, pulling her slightly into him so she couldn't back into him accidentally- or just because he wanted her close, as he did appreciate affection.

They stared in silence as rain pelted the window, driven by ever-strengthening wind. Lightning flashed, almost blinding in brightness, before thunder boomed. She felt herself frowning despite it just being a natural phenomenon and not her deceased, former nemesis.

"I don't like thunderstorms," she mumbled, no longer wishing to leave the room to do anything. Rage built whenever she thought of him still, even months later, as his death had been too quick. Time would lessen it more, but, for now, she would avoid things that reminded her of the bastard.

Ulquiorra's hand loosely took hers, pulling it away from the curtain so it fell closed. Briefly, he held her hand in his, a gentle squeeze attempting to calm her down before her anger soured her mood. Distracting her worked the best, he had told her, and affection was her favorite 'distraction.' He returned her hand to her side following her sigh. Soon after, he quietly stepped away.

"I died in a rainstorm."

She whipped around, watching as he walked to the desk littered with art supplies. He didn't acknowledge that he had said anything, and offered no further explanation of his simple, blunt statement. She understood, though. He had been more open about some of the human memories he had, often in single sentence utterances that gave giant hints for her to infer information from. Even if she felt touched that he shared such a personal fact about himself, his response left a pit in her stomach. His spiritual pressure in his resurrección manifested as rain. Every time since being forced to remember that memory, it must have felt like fate mocking him by tying his power to his human death. Dying like that… No wonder he always felt cold.

"Staying in it is," she muttered, mainly to herself. She paused as Ulquiorra set out his sketchbook, clearly already having an activity in mind. "Take mine out, too? I want to try drawing again."

She was awful at it, and even if he was patient when trying to teach her, he wasn't the best at teaching the subject. Saying draw a steady line did nothing to make it happen- drawing lessons were only mildly better than sword lessons had been, honestly. It was still fun, though, because his reactions to her poor scribbles amused her to no end; his blank, wordless stare followed by a sigh, she thought it hilarious.

"I'm going to go grab a few snacks," she added, standing in the closet, already going through his jacket's pocket for some money.

With their meager funds in hand, she walked into the hotel hallway, on her way to the vending machine to sample more odd snacks- she admittedly enjoyed bizarre snack foods more than she should. As she went, she flipped a coin over, noting how different it looked compared to the last country's currency. They tended to move around after all.

How they 'came across' money differed depending on how much they needed. Ulquiorra would sometimes object himself to the horror that was selling his artwork, but only if they needed as much money as they could get; Aracelis quickly realized that plane tickets and decent hotels ran a ridiculously high bill. Otherwise, she mostly obtained their pocket change and frivolous spending money. She could leave her gigai without consequence, her spiritual pressure null when she used her ability to draw in energy- now without risk, as Mirro could no longer interfere with her control. Being an incorporeal being made it very easy to steal.

That was how she had discovered another of Ulquiorra hang-ups.

He had been reluctant when she first thought of stealing in her hollow -actual- form. Initially, she thought it was just because he was worried about her traipsing around without a gigai, possibly calling attention to them while they were still technically in hiding. After choosing to target some less than reputable people- because of her pent-up anger for the remaining Mirro's of the world- Ulquiorra didn't seem as opposed to the idea anymore, returning to his indifferent self, yet still not directly assisting in any way. He had a vague sense of morality, obviously, but she didn't know it extended to humans and included a dislike for thievery.

She had asked him about it eventually. His answer was the opposite of what she expected.

"I was a bandit as a human," he had admitted, brushing the topic aside after that one sentence of explanation. Maybe he would offer more information one day, but the way he said it, the way he turned away afterwards, told her it was topic he didn't want to discuss right then. Like her, all the human memories Clematis dredged up from that time were incredibly painful; spilling everything at once wouldn't happen.

Aracelis felt contented learning facts about him, about his past or how he felt, no matter how small or how vague they could be. It was a positive change, just like her being more honest about her insecurities and her own past. There was no need to rush things anymore either. They had eternity now.

She smiled at the thought as she picked her snacks out.

* * *

Ulquiorra sat on the bed, back resting against the wall. He placed Aracelis's sketchbook under his for when she burst back into the room with her bizarre breakfast choices. In his own, he flipped to the next blank page, staring at it with his pencil in hand. He honestly didn't have anything in mind other than to find something to pass the rainy day away with.

That reflected much of what they did recently. This peaceful masquerading as humans to pass the time, he didn't mind it as much as before.

Ulquiorra had no idea what he and Aracelis would do when they were recovered. From what he gathered, Hueco Mundo would remain too dangerous even if they were at full strength. Harribel had been missing for some time, and Espada-ranked hollows didn't disappear without cause. Ulquiorra presumed she was dead, although Aracelis had hope for the opposite. In any case, returning there, he did not know when or if that would be possible.

Even then, he truly felt content with playing human for the time being. While they lived without structure, operated solely on whims, Ulquiorra found himself welcoming the change. He finally felt in control of his own fate. He did not answer to some stronger force that threatened to toss him aside for perceived weakness, nor did he fear the prospect of being alone, Aracelis always at his side.

He still sometimes found himself lost when deciphering his own emotions, but now he could focus on finding the meaning without death tenuously looming over Aracelis and himself. He could now… enjoy… things without dire consequences, he supposed. Happiness remained incredibly odd to him. Love as well, but both emotions he would willingly admit to feeling. He could not deny them any longer.

The memory Clematis had shown him hadn't been a reactionary emotion in a single moment. Unlike Aracelis, who had been shown one scene, Ulquiorra had seen dozens flickering by, several emotions laced together into a single theme: intense love. It had been overwhelming, but… pleasant or reassuring were words that came close to describing it. In any case, feeling her emotions in those moments certainly erased his doubt of having mislabeled his emotions as love. No, he was positive it could be nothing else. Nothing could persuade him otherwise now, either. He loved her. He wasn't afraid to say that anymore.

Aracelis returned, breaking his reflective train of thought as she promptly sat down next to him, smiling as she showed off her inventive breakfast. In truth, she had enough for lunch as well, which was probably her intent. The storm showed no signs of letting up soon. Neither of them wished to be outside during it, either, for no rational reason, but rather for distant, still raw memories.

"I, of course, grabbed some of the weirder things I saw," she said, shuffling her pile around to pick something to try. She tore into the plastic while rambling, "Like these _gummy worms._ I don't understand why someone decided to make worm-shaped candy, since most humans apparently find bugs gross."

She pulled a few out of the bag, scrutinizing them with such concentration that Ulquiorra felt no need to interrupt with his opinion. Despite the shape, the candy was obviously pure sugar, gelatin, and flavoring. Such a silly hollow, considering she had probably eaten actual worm-like hollows. A bit of sugar didn't warrant analysis. After another moment of consideration, she ate one, shoving the bag towards him enthusiastically, fighting a grin by chewing.

Her poorly hidden amusement gave her intentions away, but he tried it anyway. Obviously not the best candy, or breakfast, but it was edible. Aracelis was quick to offer more, even if she tried to subtly hand him the bag while glancing away briefly.

"You bought this because you thought it would be amusing to watch me eat worms," he stated bluntly, taking another, a grin breaking on her face at how easily she had been discovered.

"I mean, do you know how strange it is to see proper Ulquiorra eating colorful worms? I saw them in the vending machine and decided that I _needed_ to see if you'd eat _any_ candy I give you," she teased, digging through her pile of food again.

"And are you much better with your flavored chocolate obsession?" he asked as she tore open a candy bar filled with fruit. He thought the machine would be out of those by now.

"Well, you know, hollows don't exactly taste as good as this junk." Aracelis set her pile of snacks on the nightstand to her side, adding, "I plan to try as much as I can while I have the chance. It's not like it'll kill us, given we're dead already." She looked back to him, smiling again as he shamelessly grabbed another gummy in inferred solidarity with her reasoning. Or that he was eating a 'worm' again. Most likely both, considering it was Aracelis, but he wondered which made her near smirk wider. No matter what, her smile made his chest warm with happiness.

"You are a strange woman," he said, looking to his sketchbook, a slight twitch in his lips as his expression tried to match hers.

He loved his odd Aracelis and her infectious smile.

* * *

Aracelis felt her fake heart nearly break, but in a good way. The swell of happiness she felt at seeing him even almost smile, she could barely handle it. He'd come such a long way. From a blank expression marred by sadness to actually displaying emotion, the change made Aracelis both elated and proud. Seeing him happy, being happy herself, after all they had been through…

She scooted closer to Ulquiorra, smiling as she leaned against him. In response, without a second thought, he leaned into her as well.

She could hardly believe they met in the ruthless deserts of Hueco Mundo. That they had gone from mutual curiosity to something akin to friendship despite their hollow nature. From their separation to their reunion under the regime of a tyrannical soul reaper and parasite, they had grown apart only to rekindle the companionship they formally had, to something more. So much more. To go from all of that hardship, to living freely and peacefully, to relearning emotions once lost to them, to finding happiness, it was far more than Aracelis could have ever imagined. Through it all, they had done the impossible.

They found the meaning of a heart.

* * *

 **It's been a long time in the making, but** _ **Deciphering the Heart**_ **is complete! The tale of two hollows finding a heart ends here, with Aracelis and Ulquiorra finally finding happiness in a messed-up world. It's been a journey indeed!**

 **Thank you for reading!**

 **Thank you to everyone who followed and favorited throughout the making of the story! And future favorites too! I am so happy to see how well this story did, and that so many people enjoyed it!**

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**

 **Big, ginormous thank you to haipa-chan, MorteSangriz, and The Shy Scorpio for the multiple reviews over the making of the story!**

 **And, finally, always feel free to review or pm no matter that its complete! I'll be around, I expect, and I really appreciate hearing what readers thought of the story!**


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